Falling
by L. Sith
Summary: Never in Saitoh's greatest planning, nor in his worst nightmare, did he anticipate the havoc one woman could wreck in his life. SaitohxTokio.
1. Chance Meetings

Author's note: Comments and criticisms of any type are great appreciated. Please feel free to nitpick. My thanks.  
  
Disclaimer: RK, and all characters thereof, belong to their perspective owners. This is not for profit.  
  
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Destiny. Is that what this is? Nowhere in Saitoh's greatest planning, nor in his wildest dreams, has he anticipated this.  
  
The biggest trap of his life. Or the most blessed blunder.  
  
"Are you nervous Saitoh-san?" Okita asks with a boyish smile.  
  
"Of course not."  
  
"Really? I know I would be."  
  
"That's 'cause you are a fool."  
  
And to Saitoh's mild annoyance, his comment only widens the smile on Okita's face.  
  
The door opens.  
  
Saitoh grips the scabbard of his katana in his right hand, and without a backward glance, passes through the open doorway and walks down the aisle.   
  
Chapter 1: Chance Meetings  
  
Saitoh glowered at another heavily perfumed woman as she approached him. This one got the hint immediately and left him alone. Thank god, at least one female in this large and tastelessly ornate room owned a brain.  
  
Saitoh assessed the scene - hordes of gaudily dressed females, all playing coy, encircled the Shinsengumi men. Appalling. If Takeda had wanted to visit a brothel, the moron should just 'go' instead of dragging everyone else in the Shinsengumi down to his level.   
  
From across the room, Okita waved, distracting Saitoh momentarily from his murderous thoughts. And slowly, due to frequent greetings to the ladies, Okita inched his way across the distance of a hundred feet. Saitoh had seen snails that crawled faster.   
  
"You should be enjoying yourself, Saitoh-san, this is suppose to be a party." Okita said.  
  
"A party? Is that what this mating session is called."  
  
"Maa ... it isn't that bad."  
  
"No, not for Takeda, he is perfectly happy selling himself for copper pennies. How about you? What are you worth?"  
  
"Whatever Commander Hijikata says." Okita gave one of his bright smiles.  
  
Apparently, some people enjoyed being an idiot. Saitoh, personally, had had enough. "I am going outside." He exited the room and start heading towards the garden.  
  
"But Saitoh-san," Okita called out after him. "Hijikata-sama is going to be ..."  
  
Upset. Saitoh mentally finished Okita's sentence. The Shinsengumi badly needed the financial support. They've already tried everything short of mugging pedestrians. Well, almost everything. This was Vice Commander Hijikata's latest scheme: a marriage of Shinsengumi members to wealth. And to that end, Hijikata had invited the daughters of the richest merchants to a series of 'mixers'. Hijikata had termed this project: public relations.   
  
The euphemism didn't even fool the fools.   
  
Saitoh sauntered out of the main compound and into what was probably the most expensive private garden in all Kyoto. The merchant that hosted these Shinsengumi mixers certainly had money to burn. Too bad the idiot couldn't use the wealth to buy taste. The exotic flora that dotted the garden had been arranged in the worst combinations possible - even darkness of the night couldn't hide its tackiness.   
  
Saitoh settled for the most secluded corner of the garden as his resting spot. He lit a cigarette and watched it burn.   
  
And a simpleton chose that precise moment to intrude. But fortunately, before Saitoh even needed to snarl, the woman in the green kimono apologized profusely and scuttled around the corner. Saitoh returned his thoughts to his escape plan. Parading women around a room lost its novelty rather quickly - all cattle looked the same. Hijikata should just point to the richest female in the room, and Saitoh would be happy to marry her on the spot. And in exchange for her wealth, she would acquire his title. Could a transaction get any simpler?   
  
Unfortunately, Hijikata enjoyed complicating matters.  
  
Saitoh took a puff of his cigarette.   
  
Snippets from a nearby conversation drifted uninvitingly to his ears. Normally, he would have ignored any quarrel of civilized volume, but the words of this one grew increasingly more alarming.  
  
"... No! Stop! Don't touch me!" A feminine voice said resolutely. "Stop! Get your hands off me!"  
  
Saitoh walked around a thicket, towards the source of the argument.   
  
Just in time to catch Takeda trying to force himself on a woman. Some people were a disgrace to the Shinsengumi uniform.  
  
"Ahou. For once, think with your other brain." Saitoh said.  
  
Takeda straightened up abruptly and the color drained from his face. "Oh, hi ... hi there ... we're ... we're just having some fun ... no harm done ... right?"  
  
Then, in an unusual display of wisdom, the moron chose not to stay and insist on his point of view. The idiot quickly made himself scarce.  
  
Which left Saitoh standing in the garden, alone with some helpless maiden. He hoped that she wasn't going to throw herself at him in a fit of hysterics.   
  
He turned his attention back to her. Wearing a faded green kimono and with her long hair bounded in a high ponytail, she looked the role of a servant girl. Good, no comforting words required. And from the looks of it, she needed none. Although she held her petite frame like a quarry ready for flight, her dark brown eyes flashed with intense determination.   
  
Saitoh took a long drag of his cigarette. "Who are you?"  
  
"Takagi Tokio."   
  
Short, clipped, the girl certainly revealed little of herself. But from the timbre of her voice and her unblemished skin, Saitoh placed her in her late teens - certainly not too old to learn new ways of self-protection.  
  
"Scream louder next time, Takagi Tokio."   
  
With a small twitch of her lips, the girl asked, "Would that have stopped him?"   
  
"No," Saitoh answered frankly, "so gouge out his eyes."  
  
The girl's mouth dropped open.   
  
"Want me to demonstrate?" Saitoh asked.   
  
And she fled.   
  
Saitoh glanced down at his navy blue hakama and chuckled. Unlike the other Shisengumi members, he wore his civvies. He wondered briefly if the woman would report him to the authorities for encouraging her to attack a Shinshengumi samurai. Even if so, it would be a small price to pay for the look on Takeda's face.   
  
Saitoh grounded out his cigarette under his foot.   
  
He hadn't had this much fun for a long time. 


	2. Confusion In the Darkness

Author's Note: Thanks for all the comments - they are a great encouragement to me. I started writing this story because I am having trouble with 'The Nature of Evil', and someone suggested that I write something I would never normally write; in this case: romance. I am still not sure I can pull it off. So any comments and criticisms, on any topic, will be greatly appreciated.   
  
Disclaimer: RK, and all characters thereof, belong to their perspective owners. This is not for profit.  
  
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Chapter 2: Confusion In the Darkness  
  
Saitoh stayed by the exit of the overly ornate room and scrutinized every partygoer that approached the area. From across the room, he could feel Hijikata's eyes on him. Too bad he couldn't distract Hijikata enough to escape the mixer entirely, but at least, Saitoh got away with not showing up in his uniform again - the blue and white Shinsengumi surcoat attracted bloodsuckers like a beacon.  
  
Upon spotting the first unattached female heading his way, Saitoh grabbed her elbow and firmly steered her out of the room. He could see Hijikata watching him out of the corner of his eye, but Hijikata seemed satisfied with Saitoh's overt display of a lady companion.  
  
"Do I know you?" A female voice brought Saitoh's attention back to the woman he had just abducted.  
  
"No, so get lost." Saitoh dropped her arm.   
  
And with a look of confusion, the woman scampered away and headed back to the party alone. Saitoh could safely leave this place now, but he would probably have to answer endless questions about his 'lady companion' for rest of the night. Better to reappear at the mixer periodically.   
  
So instead, Saitoh headed for his secluded corner of the garden. However, the girl from last night had already claimed the grass covered site and showed no intention of relinquishing it. How dared she encroach on his territory! Saitoh walked up and almost physically tossed her out before realizing that she didn't seem aware of his presence.   
  
No wonder Takeda picked her. All the faster prey had already run off.  
  
And for the next several minutes, Saitoh leaned against the tall wooden wall, and watched Tokio peel petals off a flower under the hazy moonlight. If the silly girl couldn't defend herself, she should at least learn to stay with the pack. "It's dark out here and you are all alone. I could kill you right now and no one would ever know."   
  
Her head whipped in his direction and her lips parted as if to scream. He quickly stepped behind her and clamped his hand over her mouth before any sound could escape.  
  
"Don't scream." He ordered.  
  
And after sensing a slight nod of her head, he released his hold on her.  
  
She immediately screamed. Very loudly.  
  
Which brought several squads of Shinsengumi charging to their position.   
  
"What happened?" Hijikata asked, looking furious.   
  
Saitoh sighed and tilted his head in Tokio's direction. "Reflex."  
  
But the explanation didn't placate Hijikata, and Saitoh received a silent dress down from his commanding officer, with a wordless promise of a more verbal reprimand later.  
  
"It is dark out here, we must be careful not to sneak up on others." Hijikata said. And with one more displeased look towards Saitoh, Hijikata finally led the crowd away.   
  
And hiding amongst the throng of people, was that stupid servant girl.   
  
"You." Saitoh grabbed Tokio's wrist. "STAY."  
  
Tokio struggled against his hold. "I got to go. I hear my lady calling me."  
  
Saitoh tightened his grip, and kept on tightening it, until she stopped fighting him. And before she could be tempted to revert to her old trick, he said, "Don't bother screaming. You've cried wolf for the last time, no one will help you now."  
  
And to bolster his point, the last straggler passed out of sight, leaving only the two of them in the darkness.  
  
Tokio smiled up at him weakly. "I ... I ... I was ... only following your advise from yesterday. Scream loudly, you said ..."   
  
Normally, at this point, Saitoh would have held his opponent by the throat, several inches off the ground, until his adversary yielded. But against a helpless woman half his size, Hijikata might consider that excessive force. So Saitoh had to content himself with using the girl's arm to back her against the wooden wall that surrounded the estate.   
  
But to reinforce his words, Saitoh leaned forward and snarled in her ear. "I WILL BE OBEYED!"  
  
"Over my dead body!" Tokio pushed against him with her free hand. And when that failed to move him, she brought her leg up and attempted to knee him.  
  
The attack caught Saitoh completely by surprise. He sidestepped and her strike missed. But in the process, she somehow broke free of his hold.   
  
The little kitten had teeth after all.  
  
Saitoh reached out and grabbed Tokio's ponytail as she tried to flee from him. That jerked her off her feet, and she hit the ground with so much force, he momentarily feared for her life. But even that did not stop her. She started pulling at her own hair, as if trying to separate them from her head.  
  
Saitoh let go. "What's the matter with you?"  
  
"Leave me alone!" She yelled and tried to climb to her feet, but then fell back down again.  
  
Damn. Saitoh rushed to her side. He should have held back more. The girl had probably never learned how to fall properly. He could have just caused serious injury. Saitoh pulled open the bottom flaps of her kimono, and with slight pressure, checked on her ankle joint and her leg bones.   
  
She immediately tried to kick him. And missed.  
  
"Stop." Saitoh grabbed her other leg and started examining it. "You are really going to hurt yourself."   
  
"Go. To. Hell. You and your friend both. Is coercion the only way you can get women to bed you?"  
  
Fighting words. The girl had spunk. She certainly turned out to be full of surprises. "Are you questioning my honor?"  
  
Wise enough not to answer, Tokio proceeded to crawl away on her elbows instead. And this time, he let her go. She inched along for several minutes before collapsing on the grass.  
  
Saitoh lit a cigarette and waited. At the rate Tokio was moving, she should reach the front door in about six months.   
  
"Holler for help when you come to your senses and decide to go somewhere." He called down to her, sounding mockingly solicitous.   
  
Tokio shot him a dirty look. He smirked.  
  
  
  
And perhaps realizing some truth in his words, she gave up trying to slither across the grass on her belly and attempted to stand up. She managed to climb all the way to her feet. But upon taking her first step, she stumbled and started pitching forward.  
  
For a moment, Saitoh entertained the thought of watching her fall flat on her face, but he caught her across the waist before she could hit the ground. If the girl sustained any more damage, he'd never hear the end of it from Hijikata. "Don't try my patience. Let me help you."  
  
Taking her silence as a sign of submission, Saitoh readjusted his arm around her and propped her up. And together, they took several steps forward. Saitoh could feel Tokio increasingly favoring her left leg, but she complained of no pain - perhaps too proud to do so. But knowing that she would probably worsen her injury if left to her own devices, Saitoh accompanied her all the way to the front steps of the residence and stayed until he finished his cigarette.   
  
He grounded out the embers under his sandal. "Go and see a doctor about your leg tonight. You may have an internal injury."  
  
Tokio nodded then said tentatively, "Thank you."   
  
And with his duty sufficiently fulfilled, Saitoh promptly ignored her and headed back to rejoin the Shinsengumi. However, on his way home, the thought of Tokio resurfaced, and he made a mental note to check up on her tomorrow - just in case the silly fool had failed to carry out his orders properly.  
  
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Next Chapter: Laws of Physics  
  
Author's Notes: I want to especially thank the following people for their comments: Kyaa-Kyaff, Silver, Jade Goddess, Argentum Draco, RVD, kamorgana, Leila Winters, mibu no ookami, Celyia, Alyson Metallium, Mary-Ann, and Jovian Angel  
  
To mibu no ookami: Takeda was strictly gay? I was hoping that he was bi ... My historical research is definitely lacking. Thank you very much for the information! I'll try to work it into the story. 


	3. Laws of Physics

Disclaimer: Don't own RK and not getting paid for this.  
  
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who commented. And I want to especially thank Kamorgana for being my pre-read. Due to her excellent suggestion, I've posted up a revised version of chapter 2. And for those of you that like Saitoh x Tokio romance, please check out her story: 'Preys'. And for those of you that don't like Saitoh x Tokio romance ... pretend this is a KxK story, and be sure to read Kamorgana's 'Children of the Revolution'.  
  
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Chapter 3: Laws of Physics  
  
Saitoh stood near the exit of the gaudily decorated room and smoked his cigarettes until he finished the entire pack, but the women continued to drone on. If he hadn't been ordered by Hijikata to stay on 'best behavior' during these mixers, Saitoh would have given those idiots a piece of his mind long ago.  
  
But instead, he stared coldly at yet another airhead until she ran out of words and left to find herself a new victim.  
  
Finally, a chance to getaway from this ridiculous waste of time. Saitoh headed outdoors.   
  
Sunshine gushed onto the garden with its annoying brightness, destroying any possibility of privacy. Hijikata had abruptly moved all the parties from evenings to mid afternoons - probably in response to last night's incident.   
  
Saitoh peeled off the overcoat of his uniform and handed the blue and white cloth to the first subordinate he came across.  
  
"Captain?" His man asked in confusion.  
  
He didn't stay to clarify. The daisho pair already marked him a 'wanted' man, he didn't plan to wait around for the vultures. Saitoh quickly headed towards his corner of the garden. But Tokio wasn't there. Instead, he walked in on a couple messing around behind the thicket.  
  
"Captain." The boy jumped up with a panic stricken expression.  
  
"Ahou. Keep your pants on."  
  
Frustratingly, Saitoh searched through rest of the garden, leaving a trail of distressed idiots behind him, but no sign of her. Where was that girl? She had better not died of an internal injury overnight.  
  
Always the alarmist, Hijikata had spent over an hour on the formal reprimand. It almost sounded like someone had killed the little fool instead of just startling her. And that was without Hijikata knowing about Tokio's injury.  
  
'That stupid girl had been nothing but trouble', Saitoh thought as he headed out of the front gates of the estate in his continuing search.  
  
Hordes of servants loitered in the narrow street in front of the residence. It didn't take long for him to spot her, sitting slightly apart from the others, reading a book. He walked up to her, but the little idiot reacted not at all. Even if Takeda habitually wore a huge bell around the neck, it probably still wouldn't have helped her that night.  
  
Saitoh snatched the book out of Tokio's hands.  
  
She blinked up at him in confusion, then quickly scrambled to her feet, and bowed. "Good afternoon, samurai-sama."  
  
Saitoh noticed that she still favored her left leg, but otherwise appeared in good health. "Did you see a doctor like I ordered?"  
  
"Yes, samurai-sama. And the doctor said that I've sprained my knee but it will heal shortly."  
  
Saitoh nodded. And with his goal fulfilled, he turned to leave. But just before handing back Tokio's book, a brief sense of curiosity struck him. What did servant girls read about? How to dust the furniture properly? He opened to a random page in the book and perused it. Much of the material made no sense to him. He recognized the words, the numbers, and the mathematical signs, but the writing also contained symbols he'd never seen before. Misprints? A foreign language? Some type of cipher?   
  
"This book is all about things falling, do you drop things a lot in your line of work?" Saitoh asked.  
  
"No I don't!" Tokio answered hotly, "It's a physics book, and physics is all about bodies in motion."  
  
Physics? Saitoh had never heard of such a thing before. "So you like to learn about people's bodies and their motions? Then where are the pictures?" He mocked.  
  
Tokio took a swipe at the book, attempting to snatch it back. "Go and do your stupid caveman things and leave me alone!"   
  
Saitoh raised an eyebrow at her behavior. How impertinent. "You shall at all times show me, or any other samurai, all due respect. You will not speak until spoken to. You will not attempt to steal books out of our grasp. And you will keep your eyes properly downcast in our presence."   
  
"That's it?" Tokio said, not bothering to hide her sarcasm. "I thought I was suppose to get on my knees and scrape in a samurai's presence."  
  
"Then do so."  
  
Tokio's mouth opened then closed again with an audible click. But she remained standing, looking defiant. The girl really ought to learn better than to challenge him. Casually, Saitoh circled to Tokio's left side. Then without warning, he kicked her good knee out from under her. And although he gripped her upper arm and made sure that she didn't hit the stony ground with her entire weight on hers knees, he nonetheless ensured there was enough force to drive his point home.   
  
"You will follow my orders to the letter. And don't EVER contradict me again." Saitoh said.  
  
And she glared up at him. "How's that possible when you contradict yourself all the time? You and your stupid 'scream for help'!"   
  
Saitoh almost chuckled at her attempt at a battle of words. The little idiot certainly had courage in abundance. Too bad she had no hope of winning in the intellectual arena either. "So the guy wasn't forcing himself on you after all. You were interested."  
  
Tokio bared her teeth. "Only the truly desperate would be interested in those Shinsengumi monsters."   
  
Then belatedly she clamped her hand over mouth and looked frantically around. Although Saitoh knew that a great deal of the population shared her sentiment, to voice such an opinion was treason nonetheless. It was so easy to get Tokio to hang herself with her own words that he almost considered it unsporting.   
  
"Lousy good screaming did for me anyways." Tokio lowered her voice to a hiss. "You managed to send them all away with one little word! And you aren't even Shinsengumi." She paused momentarily for breath, regaining some of her composure. "Besides, with that jerk, screaming would only have summoned his friends, making things worse for me. And I knew you were right around the corner, so ..."   
  
"What makes you think I'd rescue you? I may not, for the fear of the Shinsengumi." He teased.  
  
And at his words, a look of guilt passed over her features. She pouted for a moment then got properly on knees and bowed until her forehead touched the ground. "Thank you, samurai-sama, for saving my life. Please excuse the lapse in my manners. I promise to follow all your orders from now on and not to contradict you."  
  
And to reward her for her improvement in manners, Saitoh gestured for her to rise and handed back her book. The party had begun to draw to a close, and just before he could make a clean getaway, a richly dressed girl approached them.   
  
"My lady," Tokio bowed.  
  
The girl's gaze glanced past Tokio and fell squarely on him.  
  
"Captain Saitoh." The girl curtsied awkwardly. "It's a -"  
  
He cut her off with a curt gesture, pointing towards the end of the street. "Good night ladies."  
  
And the girl nearly ran in her enthusiasm to carry out his implicit command.   
  
But before Tokio followed her lady in a similar retreat, she asked him in puzzlement, "What are you a captain of?"   
  
"The third division of Shisengumi." Saitoh answered offhandedly.  
  
And he was treated to the opportunity to watch Tokio gap like a fish. He smirked.   
  
Checkmate. Complete victory.  
  
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Saitoh spent rest of the day searching through bookstores and tracking down more academics than he could count, but none of them had ever heard of 'physics'. Where in the world did that silly girl find such an esoteric subject?  
  
And by late evening, 'physics' had become a minor obsession. Refusing to give up, Saitoh headed to the basement of the Shinsengumi compound and burst into Yamazaki's office entirely unannounced.   
  
Yamazaki glanced up from a pile of papers and sighed. "Come to ask about your lady in the garden?"  
  
Saitoh gritted his teeth. Was there anyone who hadn't heard about that incident?   
  
Yamazaki continued on absently, "What do you want to know? Her birthday? Her favorite color?"  
  
Apparently, Yamazaki spent his life collecting worthless data on everybody. Perhaps someone ought to change Yamazaki's title from 'Chief of Intelligence' to 'Guardian of Useless Information'. Not that it concerned Saitoh any - he had his own mission to pursue. "What do you know about physics?"  
  
"Never heard of this 'physics'. Why?"  
  
"I saw a servant girl read this book -"   
  
"Your servant girl can read?" Yamazaki cut in, all trace of frivolity gone. "What is she doing being a maid? She could get paid three times as much working in a teahouse."  
  
Yeah, and the silly fool would get herself killed within minutes. "She's a klutz."   
  
"A klutz? That's a convenient cover."  
  
Saitoh tensed. For hours now, a nameless unease had skirted around the edge of his awareness, and suddenly, it felt like the shadowy thought had been dragged into the light. How had such a simple concept eluded him for so long?   
  
"When did she fall into your orbit?" Yamazaki asked, "That girl is a cunning one. She uses her beauty to attract Takeda then plays the victim to get into your blind spot."  
  
"Maybe ... but she doesn't seem sharp enough to be that ... cunning." Saitoh ventured.   
  
And yet, Tokio made him very uneasy. Saitoh had spent too much of his time analyzing her lately, and that by itself had been peculiar. Now, with Yamazaki's added warning, Saitoh reexamined all his previous assumptions. Not surprisingly, it took him quite a few minutes before he realized how closely Yamazaki was scrutinizing him.  
  
"You wouldn't be here unless something about her tripped your alarms." Yamazaki finally said.  
  
Saitoh conceded the point. "There are these strange symbols in the book she was reading ..."   
  
Yamazaki immediately pushed a piece of paper and a writing brush in front of Saitoh. Saitoh wrote down what little he could remember.   
  
And more tense silence fell while Yamazaki chewed on the new information.   
  
"This is nothing that I've seen before." Yamazaki said. "May be some form of cipher. I'll put my men on it. In the meantime, consider her an Ishin spy. Don't speak to her, don't even go near her until I tell you otherwise. And that, is an order."  
  
Saitoh nodded and got up to leave.   
  
For rest of the night, he replayed every conversation he had ever had with the girl. But the deeper he probed, the murkier the waters became, until he could no longer distinguish between a mirage and a shark.  
  
Tokio ... was she simply a stupid servant girl or something far more menacing?  
  
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Next Chapter: Betrayal of Trust  
  
Japanese term:  
  
ahou: Idiot  
  
daisho: The long and short pair of swords that the samurais wear.  
  
Response to Comments:  
  
Silver: Saitoh's blood pressure is about to hit the roof real soon :)  
  
Leila Winters: Maybe Tokio is interested in botany or maybe she is just playing coy ... The answer will be coming soon, I promise.  
  
Kamorgana: Thank you for your excellent insights as always.  
  
Alyson Metallium: LOL. Too bad I have to maintain a PG rating.  
  
Mary-Ann: Thank you. And I look forward to your Saitoh x Tokio story as well.  
  
Lola: Thank you, and a fantastic day to you too.  
  
Tatsutahime: Saitoh turns and looks balefully at the author, "Is it true that a reader called me CUTE in response to the last chapter?"  
  
Valese: Author answers Saitoh's previous question with a straight face. "No, that is not true, Saitoh-san," author edges toward the door, "TWO readers called you cute."  
  
Midnight Scribbler: Thank you very much. And I love the quotes you have in your profile - they are excellent.  
  
JadeGoddess: I don't know why your comment didn't show up in the fanfic.net archive. But in response to your comment: When it comes Tokio, Saitoh has got a great deal of problems, doesn't he? *evil laugher*  
  
Jovian Angel: Thank you, and I'm looking forward to your version of Tokio. 


	4. Betrayal of Trust

Author's Ramblings: I recently came across a book on Do's and Don'ts for a Romance Novel. According to it, romances should be written partially, if not entirely, from the heroine's POV ...  
  
The author eyes Saitoh doubtfully, "You'll just have to be charismatic enough for both you and Tokio!"  
  
"Ahou." Saitoh takes a drag of his cigarette. "You should point the readers toward Kamorgana's 'Verdict'   
  
instead, and start begging them for reviews. This story badly needs all the comments and criticisms it   
  
can get."  
  
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Chapter 4: Betrayal of Trust  
  
Saitoh stood in the tastelessly flamboyant room and watched Hijikata watching him. Saitoh could not think of a worse waste of time for both of them. There was a possible Ishin infiltrator out there, and he was stuck 'playing house' with nitwits.   
  
Saitoh took out another cigarette and set it on fire. The woman in front of him, for some inexplicable reason, insisted on telling him, yet again, her prediction of the weather for tomorrow. She had been the sixth airhead to do so, and thus far, he had had six different predictions. At this point, even a forecast for a blizzard in middle of May would have ceased to surprise him.  
  
But despite his disgust, the mixer around him continued on uninterrupted, and so did the airhead. And while she gossiped on incessantly, his thoughts wandered, right back to the same accursed topic: Tokio.   
  
Yamazaki's section had already spent the whole morning investigating the girl and still had no answers. And those people called themselves the 'Intelligence Division'. He had yet to see those idiots display anything resembling intelligence. Saitoh, himself, never needed that long to 'persuade' someone to talk. Enough. Yamazaki already had a chance, now Saitoh would do it his way. And as for Yamazaki's standing order, Saitoh knew exactly what to do with it: shove it down Yamazaki's throat. Idiots that didn't belong in Saitoh's chain-of-command ought to learn better than to issue worthless instructions.   
  
Saitoh grabbed the airhead in front of him by the arm and dragged her towards the garden.  
  
"I'm flattered, Captain." The airhead said.  
  
He ignored her and exited the building. Upon encountering the first man in Shinsengumi uniform, Saitoh pushed her towards the chap. At which point, the airhead stumbled into the boy's awaiting arms, right in front of the boy's lady companion.  
  
It didn't take long for the situation to blow into a full incident, and Saitoh quickly left before all could be sorted out and reported to Hijikata.  
  
With no one the wiser, Saitoh skipped out of the estate through a back gate and swiftly tracked down Tokio. The girl sat at the same spot as the day before, but this time, a different book occupied her attention.   
  
He seized the bonded papers and pushed its cover before her. "Read the title for me."   
  
Tokio blinked up at him in confusion, but recited the complicated kanjis without any hesitation. "A discourse on botany."  
  
Rather a large vocabulary for a little maid. He had no doubt, if tested, Tokio would prove herself better educated than Takeda. But only samurais and the most privileged schooled their children, so where did the girl learn her letters? When Saitoh first saw her read, he simply assumed she had come from an ex-samurai background. Too many warriors had fallen in this war, and they left behind them widows and children - victims who must then fend for themselves. And increasingly, those orphans sold their services to teahouses and merchant households.   
  
Tokio could be one of them. But even then, Saitoh had no way of verifying which side her father had fought on.  
  
"Who did you borrow this book from?" He asked.  
  
"It's mine. I bought it. I love to study about plants." Tokio said shyly.  
  
And with such innocence. So very idealistic and untainted: the perfect combination that the Ishin preyed upon.   
  
And totally unlike any orphan he had met.   
  
Saitoh turned Tokio's book upside down and started shaking it. No slips of paper and no secret messages fell out.   
  
Unfortunate.   
  
Time to shake the girl.  
  
"Why are you working as a maid?" Saitoh asked.  
  
"Because no one would hire me as butler?" Tokio flashed a dazzling smile, one that had probably melted men's hearts in the past.  
  
But he only watched her coldly. Yamazaki had been right. That conniving little witch was exploiting the samurais' respect for the families of their fallen comrades.  
  
And like a sucker, he fell right for her trick.  
  
Saitoh grasped several pages of Tokio's book and started ripping it in half lengthwise. He flung the tattered papers into the wind and repeated the deed until the entire book fell apart. But Tokio just sat there, stock still against the wall, watching him.  
  
So many things gave her away. He didn't know how he could have missed them all. "You can start your confession now."   
  
"I don't know what you are talking about."  
  
"Really?" He grasped Tokio's ponytail and used it to drag her to her feet. "If you are a maid, that book would have cost you a month of wages. You are usually so impulsive, yet you did nothing while I ripped your precious book apart." Saitoh jerked Tokio's head back until he looked straight into her eyes. "You can confess now, or you can wait until I beat the truth out of you. Either way, I will get what I want."  
  
"What am I suppose to confess to?"  
  
"Being an Ishin infiltrator."   
  
"An infiltrator? Why would someone want to infiltrate a merchant household?"   
  
"But that's only the first step. Infiltrating the Shinsengumi is your final objective, and you plan to use Takeda and me to accomplish that."  
  
"I really don't know what you are talking about. I am no Ishin." Tokio said, exuding an air of sincerity.  
  
But she had not stopped exuding sincerity since he first met her. What a superb actress.   
  
Saitoh had no intention of falling for the same ploy.  
  
And perhaps aware of his growing blood thirst, Tokio attempted a verbal gambit instead. "My parents died and left me without a means of support. Is getting a job a crime?" Tokio cried out.  
  
But her excuse, as reasonable as it might sound, could not cover her deception. He had seen through her facade and sensed her increasing desperation. However, her 'maiden in distress' act had gathered a sizable crowd around them. He could hardly extract a 'confession' from her in front of that many prying eyes and would be rescuers.   
  
On the other hand, she had just provided him with the perfect idea.   
  
Saitoh pushed Tokio in front of him, into the middle of the street. "Let's go and pay a visit to your parents' graves."   
  
There, the girl could scream all she wanted and no one would hear.   
  
And so, he drove her onward, limping, across the city. She tried side tracking and leading him in circles, but Saitoh knew the streets of Kyoto like the back of his hand, and she got nowhere. Soon enough, he put a stop to it all. He grabbed Tokio by the throat and growled into her ear. "If you don't prove to me that you are a Kyoto-native by finding your parents' graves within the next fifteen minutes, I'll decapitate you on the spot."  
  
That got her attention. And it didn't take long thereafter for Tokio to locate the graveyard. But as soon as they stepped into the cemetery, Saitoh knew that her story had all been a lie. The burial grounds were extremely well maintained and the headstones downright extravagant. On top of that, Tokio could not produce her father's grave, only her mother's, who had died over ten years ago.  
  
Game over.  
  
And like a marionette with her strings cut, Tokio collapsed onto the grass beneath her mother's tombstone.   
  
She curled herself into the fetal position.   
  
And Saitoh wondered if she imagined herself lying in a coffin of her own. To be caught in a lie and to be forced to face the death of hope often had devastating psychological effects on the prisoner. Saitoh could see that he had chosen correctly.  
  
"We never mean to hurt anyone, and we haven't. It was all so stupid ..." Tokio said softly. "And you are going to kill me now, aren't you?"  
  
"Not yet. I would need a full confession first."   
  
"A confession?" Tokio turned her tear filled eyes to him, pleading for mercy. "I'll do whatever you want, just promise me that no one else will be hurt. It is all my idea, mine alone. They are innocent."  
  
Her words hung in the air between them.  
  
Saitoh had sat through enough confessions to know that all he had to do was play along. But he never made false promises to anyone, not even a dead person. "What you are asking is beyond my control. All your cohorts, even those not directly involved, would share your fate. That is the law."   
  
And she clammed up.   
  
"It will be easier for you if you come clean now. Once I hand you over to Hijikata, it will be too late. You won't last five minutes in his torture chamber." Saitoh said.  
  
And a shudder passed through Tokio's frame. She curled into an even tighter ball. But she remained silent.  
  
Part of Saitoh felt annoyed by his failure to extract a full confession, but part of him admired Tokio for her courage. Either way, he had accomplished what he came for. He pressed no further. Instead, he slung her over his shoulder and started heading back to the Shinsengumi headquarters.  
  
The matter was no longer his concern. But he made a silent promise to make certain that her death would be as painless as possible when her time came.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Next Chapter: Judgment Day  
  
****  
  
Response to Comments:  
  
Alyson Metallium: Saitoh is nothing if not unflappable :)  
  
RVD: Yikes!! I just realized my response to your comment got left out of the last chapter. Sorry about that. And thank you for your continuing support.  
  
Mary-Ann: Simply couldn't resist the urge to poke fun at physics when I decided to name the story 'Falling' :) But according to Kamorgana, translated western books on sciences did exist back then.  
  
Mibu no ookami: Thank you for the valuable information.  
  
Lola: *author flips through the thesaurus looking for synonyms for 'wonderful' * 'Have a MAGNIFICIENT day!'   
  
Kamorgana: Thank you for always being such a fountain of knowledge.  
  
Wolf Of Mibu: Hopefully this story will continue to keep the readers guessing.  
  
Leila Winters: Thank you.  
  
LunaAngel: Is Saitoh still 'lovable' after this chapter?  
  
JadeGoddess: Unfortunate for Saitoh, Tokio is not a servant.  
  
Midnight Scribbler: Physics is a pretty new branch of science back then, plus Japan doesn't like western influeces at that time, so a samurai probably won't be taught the subject.  
  
Airna: Thank you.  
  
Leah Durose formerly luna699: I wonder if Saitoh is still cute ...  
  
White cherry blossom: Saitoh is a stubborn man, it'll take him a couple of chapters to admit he is in love, then ...  
  
Serenity: And since you requested, here it is! Is the response time satisfactory? :) 


	5. Judgment Day

Chapter 5: Judgment Day  
  
Saitoh could sense the tension in the air before he even got within a half-mile radius of the Shinsengumi headquarters. Absent from the streets were its regular peddlers and casual loiters. Instead, an odd pall hung over the area. The Shinsengumi patrols must had been out in force to have frightened off the profit minded vendors.   
  
This state of affairs did not bode well.   
  
"Captain Saitoh," One of Yamazaki's man intercepted him, "Hijikata-sama has requested that you report to him at once."  
  
And although the man couched his words in casual nonchalance, Saitoh noticed a grim undertone, which betrayed an undeniable urgency.   
  
"And please do bring the lady with you." Yamazaki's man added after a brief bow.  
  
Saitoh nodded, and the man left without another word. Perhaps Shinsengumi Intelligence had uncovered the Ishin plot after all. He tightened his grip around Tokio's waist and hurried his steps. The guard posted outside Hijikata's office opened the door before he even reached it.  
  
He stepped past its threshold, and immediately, all four pairs of eyes in the room zoomed in on him.   
  
As if his presence had been anxiously awaited.  
  
The door closed behind him.  
  
"Welcome back, Captain Saitoh." Hijikata greeted, sounding almost cheerful.  
  
But like the messenger, Hijikata had the same taut undertones. Saitoh immediately reassessed the situation. Besides Hijikata and Yamazaki, two more civilians sat around the low table in middle of the room. Of the two, Saitoh only recognized the girl, whom he identified as Tokio's employer. And next to girl sat an older man dressed in expensive silks, carrying all the trappings of a rich merchant - most likely the girl's father. Had Yamazaki summoned them to uncover the extent of Tokio's espionage?  
  
Strange, he could see no family resemblance between the girl and the older man.  
  
"My lady," The girl cried out upon Saitoh's entrance and tried to stand up, almost knocking over the table in her haste.  
  
But at the last moment, the older man pulled her back down.  
  
Saitoh didn't need sixth sense to tell him something about those two didn't add up. The girl acted extremely out of turn, behaving not at all like the daughter of a prominent merchant house - the whole situation smelled of a setup. Perhaps Tokio's 'employers' were really Ishin agents as well.   
  
Saitoh quietly shifted Tokio's weight further down his right shoulder for better balance in case of combat.  
  
"Please allow me to make introductions." Hijikata interjected. "This is Takagi-san, the owner of Takagi Textiles." Hijikata pointed to the older man. "And this is Lady Takagi's maid." Hijikata pointed to the girl that Saitoh had thought was Tokio's employer.  
  
And suddenly, Saitoh felt like his missing piece of the puzzle had crash-landed on top of him. He didn't like the sensation. Not at all. He couldn't believe he had just wasted an afternoon interrogating an idiot who had switched identities with her maid. Was it all just a game for those two? Lying about one's identity and profession to a Shinsengumi was a capital crime according to Kyoto laws. Were the two delinquents hoping to escape their punishment through Takagi's wealth? If so, they should think again. 'Aku soku zan', the Shinsengumi allowed no exceptions.   
  
"Thank you Saitoh-sama for returning my daughter." The older man bowed until his forehead touched the tatami mats. "Please rest assured that Tokio will be severely punished for her foolishness and nothing like this will ever happen again."   
  
Saitoh laughed, and he could see Takagi stiffening at the sound. He had no need for pointless assurances from a merchant, he planned to personally cut Tokio's criminal career short, by the length of a head.   
  
"Falsifying one's identity is punishable by death for all involved." He casually quoted the law to Takagi. "The only question left is: did you know your daughter's scheme in advance - "  
  
But before he could even finish his interrogation, all hell broke loose - the two delinquents turned the room into a freaking circus.  
  
"Leave them alone, you monster!" Tokio started screaming, nonstop, at the top of her lungs. And while being restrained, half folded over his shoulder, she proceeded to punch and kick him.   
  
Not that she had enough strength or leverage to do any damage. But Saitoh was getting fed up with her behavior - the girl badly needed a lesson in deference, and he was of the mind to teach it to her. "Stop it right now or I'll break your pretty little neck!"  
  
Which not only didn't shut Tokio up, but caused the maid to launch a crusade at the top of her own lungs. Given a choice, Saitoh would rather listen to someone running nails across a blackboard instead.   
  
He raised his free hand to his ear, hoping to prevent it from exploding. But before he noticed any measure of success, the maid latched herself onto him, scratching and biting.   
  
He aborted his previous strategy. Instead, he swung his arm outwards with enough force to fend off the new pest and send her flying across the room. However, before his blow could connect, Yamazaki grabbed his arm. And that moron started yelling too, about what, Saitoh could not hear.  
  
The racket could have woken the dead.  
  
"Enough! You WILL release the girl at once, Saitoh-kun." Hijikata bellowed.  
  
But Saitoh had no intention of liberating his prisoner.  
  
"NOW, Captain Saitoh!"   
  
And the steel in Hijikata's voice shredded through all surrounding clamor. The room plunged into a dead silence. Saitoh could smell the adrenaline-induced anticipation in the air.  
  
He tightened his hold on Tokio.   
  
But the Shinsengumi part of him knew better than to challenge his commanding officer in front of outsiders. And out of a lifetime of military discipline, Saitoh forced his grip to loosen.   
  
Tokio tumbled out of his grasp and landed on the tatami mats in a pile. It didn't take any effort, thereafter, for Hijikata to convince the Takagis to leave.   
  
Saitoh narrowed his eyes as he watched his prey escape from his clutches.  
  
"With all due respect sir," Saitoh bit out before the door to the room even closed, "you should not have allowed Takagi's wealth to influence your judgment. The girl should be executed."   
  
"For what? Our own incompetence?" Hijikata sighed.   
  
Saitoh balled his right hand into a fist. "For committing a capital crime. The Takagi girl knew the consequences, that's why she went to such lengths to cover it up. We can't let her get away with it."   
  
"The law you quoted is only used against the Ishin Shishi, it has never been applied to a civilian before. Besides, we can't afford to kill her, it will put undue pressure on the other families to attend the mixers and to accept marriage proposals from us. The last thing we need is to end up with a bunch of vengeful brides. Or even worse, to let this incident be known and become a public laughingstock."   
  
"Slay evil swiftly. We can still go after her."  
  
Hijikata turned and flatly stared. Saitoh had not felt such scrutiny from his commander since his initial application to enter the Shinsengumi.   
  
"Why are you so eager to kill her?" Hijikata asked.  
  
Saitoh gritted his teeth. "Because she lied."   
  
To him.   
  
And Yamazaki chose that precise moment to rub more salt onto the wound. "Did the Takagi girl ever actually SAY that she is a servant?"   
  
Saitoh almost snapped Yamazaki's head off. But at the last moment, Saitoh stopped himself. No, he couldn't recall any verbal statement to that effect. Ever. She had lied about so many other things, but all of them legal - she had somehow managed to entangle him inside her webs without officially committing a crime. She even taunted him with her real name knowing that Yamazaki would have dismissed it out of hand.   
  
He had been such a fool!   
  
Yamazaki exchanged a look with Hijikata. "Maybe we should recruit her. With a little training, that girl would make a wonderful spy."  
  
Saitoh fumed at Yamazaki's words. Why was everyone defending her? Had she somehow worked her witchcraft on the others? He couldn't believe that Yamazaki praised the girl on her stupid scheme. Ploys like that made for wonderful courtroom dramas but worked not at all in real life. After one look at the way she dressed, no one would believe anything she said. Heck, Tokio didn't even act like she had faith in her own scheme.   
  
Yet, she somehow got away with it all.   
  
Saitoh berated himself. He had just officially been outwitted: by a girl, who had less expertise than a houseplant.   
  
What kind of a moron did that make him?  
  
"We are not recruiting the Takagi girl for anything." Hijikata said. "I don't know about her ability to ferret secrets from an Ishin. But with a face like that, my own men would fall over themselves trying to tell her Shinsengumi secrets!" Hijikata cast an aggravated glance towards Saitoh. "Look at the damage she had already done!"   
  
Yamazaki shrugged. "You don't have to give me an answer now. Just think about it. I realize that her scheme could use a little work. But she is only eighteen and has lived a very sheltered life. Books and plays are all she knows. Give her some real experience -"  
  
Hijikata held up a hand. "We can talk about that later. For now, we need to clean up this mess."   
  
And as if on cue, Hijikata and Yamazaki swerved their heads towards Saitoh.   
  
Saitoh suppressed the urge to pommel someone's face in. "I am not sending her roses after what she -"  
  
"I don't care how you do it, just do it." Saitoh could feel the tendrils of command creeping back into Hijikata's voice. "You will smooth things over and make sure that this doesn't becomes public. And if you shall take the wrong type of initiative again, like killing the girl, I will have your head handed to me in a bento box. Am I making myself clear?"   
  
Saitoh had to count to ten, very slowly, before he could force himself to acknowledge his new orders.   
  
And with that as the final note, Hijikata left Yamazaki and Saitoh to work out the details. Yamazaki, probably all too aware that Saitoh owed him for not revealing their little conversation from the night before, immediately dictated the terms, and this time, Yamazaki markedly declared that he spoke for Hijikata.   
  
Saitoh soon found himself ordered into visiting the girl at her residence 'first thing next morning'.   
  
Which left him with very little time to devise a suitable plan to 'smooth things over'.   
  
Nevertheless, Tokio would not get away with what she did - Saitoh planned to personally see to that.   
  
So, the girl liked games.   
  
Fine. Two could play, but he would emerge victorious.   
  
He always did.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Next chapter: Retributions  
  
***********  
  
Response to comments:  
  
JadeGoddess: I hope this chapter answers your question  
  
Kamorgana: Thank you for all your comments and constructive criticisms, they are a great help to me.  
  
Jaded Ayumi: Killing Tokio would be a lot of fun :)  
  
Mary-Ann: Thank you for your compliments.  
  
Merryday: More chapters soon.  
  
Blades of Ice: More updates coming.  
  
Prudence-chan: I hope S+T fandom isn't a disappointment.  
  
Bonessasan: Thank you for your feedback, reader reactions are very helpful to me, and I really appreciate it.  
  
Wolf Of Mibu: Thank you very much for your criticisms, and if there is anyway I can convince you to elaborate, please let me know (please feel free to e-mail me at: l_o_sith@hotmail.com)  
  
Kyrene: You are correct on all accounts.  
  
leah Durose formerly luna699: Cute, compassionate, and sensitive ... Saitoh sounds almost like a nice person :)  
  
Serenity: Thank you.  
  
Leila Winters: I'm glad that you liked the beginning notes. I'll try to think up more of them.  
  
Lola: Have a TERRIFIC day!   
  
i won't tell: Thank you.  
  
Hiei7: Thank you.  
  
saitofan108: The problem with romances is that I can't kill the heroine. Too bad isn't it? :)  
  
Lord Vampire: I hope rest of the story lives up to your expectations 


	6. Retributions

Chapter 6: Retributions  
  
Inspiration didn't strike Saitoh until well past midnight, and it came from the most unlikely of sources, but even vermin could make themselves useful at times.   
  
Saitoh kicked the Ishin corpse at his feet. It would do. He swung his katana downwards and severed its head.   
  
"What are you doing captain?" His second-in-command asked.  
  
"Preparing a gift fitting for a lady." Saitoh said as he lifted the skull by its hair.   
  
All he lacked now was a bento box.   
  
****************************  
  
Moronic orders deserved moronic responses, so with his bento box in hand, Saitoh headed for the Takagi's 'first thing in the morning', like he was ordered to. His nightly patrol had just ended, and the predawn grayness still shrouded the city - etiquette normally prohibited visitors from calling on their hosts at such an ungodly hour, but a samurai's duty must come first, and if such duty and personal interests should coincide, killing two birds with one stone became an issue of efficiency.  
  
Besides, Saitoh looked forward to hearing Tokio chirp to HIS tune. It was time to force the unconditional surrender of that silly fool.   
  
He pounded on the front gates of the Takagi estate and barked, "Shinsengumi business."   
  
That small phrase usually brought a household's inhabitants scrambling out of their domicile at their topmost speeds, either to comply with his every whim or to try to kill him - he didn't much care which, for such events provided a welcomed break to his otherwise monotonous day. And as usual, he wasn't disappointed. A servant - half dressed, out of breath, and barefooted - rushed to pull aside the heavy gates to let him in. But before he could enter, the servant fell to his knees.   
  
"We are innocent, samurai-sama!" The man cried out repeatedly while banging his forehead against the stony pavement.   
  
For a moment, Saitoh was almost tempted to ask what the servant was innocent of - spontaneous confessions often produced such fascinating and blackmail worthy material, things that could later be used against adversaries like Tokio. But Satioh dismissed the impulse; he hardly needed help to sink the girl.  
  
"I'm here for Takagi Tokio." He cut in.   
  
The servant looked up in confusion. "But ... but she's still asleep, sir."  
  
Which was the whole point. Saitoh had wanted the girl dragged out of her warm bed and into the chilly spring morning just to do his bidding, and to show her who was in charge. However, his scheme depended heavily on the servant acting with all due haste. So to encourage the proper behavior, Saitoh thumbed his katana out of its scabbard. That sent the servant scrambling off, almost running for dear life. Perhaps he ought to ask the servant to hand Tokio over to him in chains; unfortunately, he didn't have any with him and he doubted that the servant would keep any around.   
  
Too bad, next time.   
  
Saitoh stepped past the entryway and invited himself into the estate; the servant had departed in such a zealous haste, the man had entirely forgotten to usher him in. Saitoh strolled into the central courtyard. Even though the place had none of the gaudiness that marked most merchant residences, he could still smell the money in the air. The courtyard was larger than the public square, filled with frivolities that must have cost a fortune, like the intricate carvings on stone slabs underfoot that no one would ever pay attention to. No wonder Tokio ended up such a brat, her father probably threw money at all her problems and made them go away, giving her the illusion of invincibility. Well, he planned to do society, and the girl, a favor by knocking some sense into her. Besides, revenge was always sweeter when served hot.  
  
He smirked.   
  
The servant soon returned with Tokio in tow. And like a terrified villager appeasing an angry god, the servant pushed Tokio into his presence like a sacrificial virgin. But to her credit, Tokio acted more like an abducted princess than a hysterical blood sacrifice. He wondered how long the little kitten could keep her composure before her mask fell off.  
  
Tokio dipped to her knees with all the aplomb of a highborn lady, and bowed deeply - even more than protocol required, "You honor us with your presence, Saitoh-sama. How may this unworthy one be of service?" She said in a melodic cadence that played like music to the ears, sounding not one bit angry or frightened, just silky smooth, and after her bow, she even kept her eyes demurely downcast.   
  
It almost made him wonder if the servant had found the wrong person in haste. But the girl before him had the same slender eyebrows, the identical pair of large brown eyes, and even the small red lips looked no different - it had to be Tokio.   
  
"You look horrid." Saitoh said just to get a rise out of her, not that his statement was a complete lie - too many strands of hair escaped her high ponytail, and she was dressed in a light yakuta instead of a formal kimono. By all social standards, she was a mess, but strangely, the imperfections added to her beauty. Wisps of her loose hair cascaded down by her heart shaped face, framing her delicate features, and the yakuta displayed the slenderness of her waist in a way that a kimono never could. Not that he felt compelled to point out all his observations, only the ones that would crack her 'miss congeniality facade'.  
  
But instead of growing angry over his insult, Tokio bowed again. "I shall attire myself more properly in the future. Please forgive my negligence."   
  
And Saitoh's jaw nearly dropped. The girl might look like Tokio, but she behaved nothing like her - perhaps Tokio had a saintly twin. Or a very stout mask.  
  
No matter. He had the girl firmly in the palm of his hand, and he knew ways and more ways of cracking her under pressure. "I have something for you." He growled into her ear while pressing the bento box towards her. "Open it."  
  
The girl eyed the object in his hand with obvious fear, and he gave her a bloodthirsty smile just to push her to the edge of panic. Oh, his revenge was going to be delicious.  
  
"I'm unworthy of such a gift." She bowed again, and took the opportunity to wiggle slightly away from him.  
  
Not that it fooled him any. He had seen much more impressive escape attempts before. So the girl wasn't such an ice princess after all, the kitten had shown her little tail. It was time for her to grovel for mercy. "I insist that you accept my generosity." He grabbed her hand and forced it towards the lid of the black lacquered box.   
  
She started struggling so hard she toppled the box over.   
  
And its content rolled onto the stony ground.  
  
The servant behind Tokio gave a terrified scream then dropped in a dead faint, and Saitoh expected Tokio to follow suite, but she simply looked at the skull curiously. No groveling, no retching, no going pale, not even fear. Nothing  
  
In fact, her reaction was so anticlimactic Saitoh wondered which part of his plan had gone awry. He thought he had her all figured out, but she acted like she wasn't even human.   
  
"That is so exceptional." Tokio said, seemingly in admiration. "I've never seen anything like it before. Did you get it from the gaijins? Or did you do it yourself?"   
  
And Saitoh found himself staring at her with no idea how to reply. What was she talking about? But whatever it was, he didn't like her tone, it sounded a little too happy - almost as he had showered her with gifts. Did the girl like corpses? Maybe he had made a bad mistake coming here with an object of her sick obsession. He had known that she was not quite right in the head, but he had attributed it to her lack of common sense, not psychosis. She was supposed to be frightened out of her wits.  
  
Or maybe he did too good of a job and had caused her to snap permanently.   
  
He hoped Tokio wasn't going to start howling at the moon.   
  
"The smell ... do you use chicken blood?" Tokio asked.  
  
"I am a samurai in middle of a city, where would I get chicken blood?" He asked incredulously. Her questions made no sense - the girl's brain was a scrambled mess. Perhaps he should have gone with the roses, he didn't know how unstable the female mind was.   
  
"Hmm ... the gaijin spend their time making such strange things." Then like a kitten curious about a new roll of yarn, Tokio half crawled towards the skull.   
  
And Saitoh had a sudden image of her rolling the severed head between her hands like a toy. Some concepts disturbed even him. He grabbed her arm from behind and stopped her progress. "Go back to your room."   
  
Tokio reached towards the skull with her free hand. "But you said I can keep it."  
  
He distinctly remembered saying no such thing. The girl was insane. Revenge aside, for the good of society, she should be committed to a mental hospital. Maybe he ought to check with the local police for any unsolved serial murders, just in case this psychosis predated him. "You are not well. A girl should not be playing with corpses. You need help." He flatly declared.  
  
Which only earned him a blank stare. "What are you talking about? Isn't that a wax figure?" Then, a light seemed to dawn on her, and all the blood drained from her face. She started retching. "What kind of a psycho murders someone just for a sick gift?"   
  
And for the second time that day, Saitoh found himself speechless. That girl's behavior changed faster than the blink of an eye. He had no clue what Tokio did with wax, but perhaps she fashioned it like play dough, no wonder she praised the skull like a work of art. At least there was nothing wrong with her. But that also meant she had foiled his perfect plan for revenge - this required a reformulation of strategies. However, before he could sort out all his thoughts, Tokio reached towards him.  
  
For his daisho pair.  
  
The action was so incredibly stupid and unexpected, Saitoh got caught staring while she grasped the hilt of his katana and tried to draw it. But her angle was completely wrong - her motion required her body to go one way while his grip on her other arm required her to go in the opposite direction. So the blade only moved a few inches before getting stuck in its scabbard, and she half hanged onto it, trying not to fall over. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm trying to kill you." She said with such composed and determined sincerity, he had no doubt she believed it.  
  
Nor did he have any doubt that she still believed in tooth fairies. While he admired her for her courage, this was the most inept assassination attempt he had ever seen. She had zero chance of slaying a trained warrior, twice her weight, even under best of circumstances, much less while kneeling at his feet. And she dared to draw his katana? Bushido required him to kill anyone, including another samurai, for offering such an insult. The girl had a death wish. "What do you think you are doing? I can behead you for just touching my weapon. And even if you do manage to kill me, it will only grant my children the right to slaughter your entire family."  
  
That paused her for a second from her endeavors. "You have children?"  
  
"No, I ..." Saitoh didn't know why he even bothered explaining. He could feel himself being sucked into her vortex of warped logic - he needed to regain the conversation, fast. "Why are you trying to kill me?"  
  
"Because all it takes for evil to triumph is for a good man to do nothing!"  
  
"You are not a man."  
  
"So you admit you are evil!"  
  
Saitoh sighed. The conversation had deteriorated into absolute nonsense, in fact, it was beginning to resemble dialogues from melodramas - Yamazaki was right, Tokio was entirely out of touch with reality. Bushido required him to execute her for slighting his mettle, but he might as well be squashing a bug for crawling on the wrong object. The girl wasn't evil and posed no threat to society at large, and being ignorant isn't a crime; otherwise, Takeda would already be dead.   
  
In the end, Saitoh didn't know whether to laugh or to make her cry. He just wished that she didn't live in such a fantasyland of her own - it was impossible to threaten a naïve fool who had no survival instincts.   
  
  
  
Tokio drew him out of his thoughts by giving his katana another small tug. She certainly was persistent. And part of him even grudgingly admired her for her efforts to carry out her own version of 'aku suku zan'.  
  
But the girl really could use a dose of reality.  
  
He slapped her hard across the wrist, and she yelped and released her grip on the hilt of his katana. He wondered how he ended up in such a ridiculous fix. He supposed he could still kill her and try to explain it to Hijikata. Or, he could pretend that nothing happened and head back home to his bed.   
  
He opted for the latter. He had had a long day, and the girl was giving him such a pounding headache. "Just don't tell anyone about your run-ins with the Shinsengumi."   
  
And having fulfilled his orders, he shook his head and walked away.  
  
But before he could make a clean escape, Tokio called out after him, "I don't want your head! Take it with you!"  
  
He didn't even bother to respond to that one.  
  
*********************************   
  
Saitoh woke up slightly after lunch feeling even more exhausted than when he went to sleep. The image of Tokio cheerfully dribbling the severed head like a bouncing ball plagued him the whole night, and it still bothered him - he didn't know why for he had seen worse in real life. But bothered him it did.   
  
And unsettled him she did.  
  
He had never met any woman like her before. They usually either trembled silently in his presence or prattled on incessantly until he told them to shut up. None of them had ever dared to disagree with him, much less provoke him. Women used to fit into such nice and neat categories. But she turned all that upside down.   
  
Her influence was like a loose thread in his mind, the more he pulled on it, the more everything unraveled. But he hated loose ends, so he tried to eliminate them wherever they arose. By pulling on it.  
  
  
  
He slammed open the shoji door of his room and stepped out - only to be greeted by an enlisted men.   
  
"Hijikata-sama wishes to see you." The boy bowed respectfully.  
  
Saitoh wondered how long the idiot had been waiting outside of his room. He dismissed the kid and headed out to the bathhouse for a quick shave. He had a pretty good idea what Hijikata wanted.   
  
And as soon as he stepped into Hijikata's office, the black bento box atop the desk confirmed his guess.  
  
"Would you like to explain this to me?" Hijikata asked.  
  
But Saitoh didn't know where to start. Should he begin by telling Hijikata how deeply disturbing Tokio was? That she was more dangerous than anyone had thought? That she had somehow prevented him from exacting his revenge without him even realizing it? That ...  
  
In the end, Saitoh opted for the shortest answer. "No." He had nothing to explain.  
  
It earned him a quizzical look from Hijikata. "In that case ..." Hijikata paused for several seconds, as if trying to recover from an internal confusion. "I'm assigning you to guard duty for Kondo-sama for the next month."  
  
In other words, baby-sit stupid politicians. Every Shinsengumi captain dreaded that task, but for once, Saitoh didn't mind. Guard duties usually took the whole day, and that meant he would be spared from attending the mixers and he would never have to see HER again.  
  
Good, let someone else deal with that psychotic.  
  
Saitoh nearly thanked Hijikata for the favor.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Next Chapter: The Visitor  
  
Special thanks to Kamorgana for pre-reading.  
  
*************************************  
  
Japanese terms:  
  
Yakuta - Japanese bathrobe.  
  
Gaijins - Europeans.  
  
Daisho - The long and short sword pair that samurais wear.  
  
*********************  
  
Response to Comments:  
  
Thanks to: Blades of Ice, Jaded Ayumi, dadsnavygirl831, saitofan108, Wolfgirl, and Airna   
  
Firuze Khanume: It would be snowing in hell, and Saitoh will still refuse to apologize to Satan! :)  
  
Alyson Metallium: I hope the story will continue to retain your interest.  
  
Kamorgana: Thank you for all your great advice and ideas!   
  
Wolf Of Mibu: Thank you very much for taking the time to point out my mistakes. I hope to avoid similar errors in the future.  
  
JadeGoddess: Tokio is not giving information to the Ishin, Saitoh was wrong in his supposition. I'm sorry that the previous chapter wasn't clear.   
  
Leila Winters: I can't imagine Saitoh sending anyone roses either.  
  
Merryday: Thank you very much for pointing out 'pommel' vs. 'pummel'. I've never seen the word 'pummel' before. I looked it up in the dictionary and found that it was an alternate spelling. Thank you for the learning opportunity.   
  
Mary-Ann: No, Saitoh hasn't seen the end of the story. Saitoh-torture is too much fun :)  
  
leah Durose formerly luna699: What a nice guy. There really should be more Saitoh fans out there!  
  
EEevee: Unfortunately, Tokio is still alive in the TV series. That's the problem with prequels, everyone already knows who's going to survive.   
  
Seproth: Saitoh isn't his real/birth name; it is the name he used to join the Shinsengumi. So you are correct, the historical figure didn't join the Shinsengumi under his real name.   
  
Charmed-Anime: Sorry for the wait. 


	7. The Visitor

Chapter 7: The Visitor  
  
Two weeks had passed by in a blur. It was now spring in Kyoto and love was in the air, or more precisely, lust was everywhere. It was no longer even possible to walk about the Shinsengumi headquarters without tripping over lovebirds hiding in the most absurd of places. Hijikata had better reconsider his policy and allow women in the barracks, or risk idiots turning every nook and cranny throughout the compound into makeshift hotel rooms. And in truth, Saitoh had no idea why those idiots bothered to hide; everyone knew what they were up to - so hang up a sign, that way at least, innocent pedestrians could safely avoid them. Furthermore, the mixers had drawn to a close, and the wedding bells had been ringing so hysterically since, he wondered if some fool had broken it. Everyday, a different wedding invitation arrived, and because Hijikata had ordered the captains to attend all the ceremonies, Saitoh was forced to clear his calendar for the next six months. Moreover, additional courtships continued, probably leading to even more weddings, which meant he would never have time to do anything useful again. Why couldn't all the fools just get married at once and save everyone the trouble? All the participants were going to show up in uniforms anyways - the Shinsengumi haori for the men and the white kimono for the women - who would notice the difference?   
  
To top it all, his duties had lacked the grace to sail smoothly on. Eight hours of listening to politicians talk, on the same topic everyday, could turn a man permanently stupid. If those idiots would only shut up and do something useful, instead of conjuring up reams of impractical plans, the Ishin would have ceased to be a problem long ago. He used to think that Tokio had no common sense, but compared to those morons, she was a genius. And those politicians' honor guards weren't any better, they were chosen neither for their brains nor swordsmanship - no wonder the Ishin had such success with assassinations.   
  
In short, the assignment had slowly turned into hell for him.  
  
But even more so for Kondo.   
  
Saitoh had already had two run-ins with the other delegations, and after each one, he could feel Kondo's blood pressure soaring. Hijikata must either be an idiot for assigning him to this task, or the man had a bone to pick with Kondo. Saitoh wished that Kondo would exercise the authority to countermand Hijikata and release him from this misery. But unfortunately, his two commanders were notorious for presenting a "united front", so any hope of freedom was slim.   
  
Nonetheless, he continued to hope - there was nothing else to do while those politicians gibbered.  
  
Saitoh pushed his musings aside as he and Kondo came to a stop by a roadside noodle shop for lunch. They had abruptly ceased dining with the other politicians after another honor guard had challenged him to a death duel over an insult at a luncheon. He couldn't help but to laugh into the man's face. It didn't help matters.  
  
And so here they were, at an ordinary restaurant, eating while the entire wait staff stared at their every move. It was one of the reasons why most Shinsengumi ate at their headquarters despite the bad food. But since the headquarters was too far away, he had to satisfy himself with consuming his soba in silence.   
  
"Kondo-sama, Kondo-sama, please help my lady!" A peasant woman shouted while running into the restaurant. She fell to her knees before their table.   
  
Which caused both he and Kondo to turn and stare at the woman's bowed head in surprise. Most civilians avoided the Shinsengumi like the plague and even the highborn feared them, he couldn't remember the last time anyone appealed to them for help.  
  
"Who is your lady? And what help can we render?" Kondo asked kindly.  
  
The woman raised her head to reply.   
  
And Saitoh immediately had a really bad feeling about the whole thing - the woman was Tokio's maid.   
  
"My lady is Takagi Tokio, sir." She said.  
  
And Kondo instantly seemed to recognize the name. But of course, the "woeful tale of the abducted maiden" had been the prime topic in the Shinsengumi headquarters for the past two weeks, Kondo had to be dead not to have heard it.  
  
"The master of my house has been sent away on business by the orders of the daimyo," the maid continued in a pitiable voice, "my lady is left all alone with no male relatives to guard over her welfare - "  
  
Kondo smiled down benevolently, "Then I shall send Captain Saitoh to protect her."   
  
Saitoh nearly choked. He couldn't believe that Kondo had just ordered him to protect a nonessential civilian from her own follies - what an even bigger waste of time than listening to senseless speeches from idiotic politicians. His month had been plummeting steadily, but he refused to end up somewhere below hell. There was no way he was going to suffer Tokio's company again. "Over my dead body!"   
  
"Which could be arranged." Kondo said in quiet chastisement.  
  
And Saitoh immediately bowed his head in deference. He silently cursed himself for allowing the idiot to incite him into challenging his commanding officer in public. Thank heavens he wasn't with Hijikata.   
  
"Tell me captain," Kondo resumed in a more genial tone, "why are you so opposed to protecting Takagi-san?"   
  
"Because she's a criminal, sir, and -"   
  
"No, she's not!" The maid jumped hotly to Tokio's defense. "My lady might have had your sword in her hand, but it refused to come out!"  
  
The maid ended her pronouncement at top of her lungs, and Saitoh nearly forgot to breath out of shock. Around him, the restaurant had become absolutely silent, every eye in the vicinity focused on him. And it didn't help that Kondo's jaw had dropped almost to the floor  
  
"It is not what it sounds like." Saitoh grated out when he eventually found his voice again. But that left him with only the truth, and he could hardly tell Kondo that he had allowed Tokio to draw his katana.  
  
"It was not her fault - " the maid continued in Tokio's defense.  
  
But Saitoh had no intention of letting her finish. Who knew what else might spill out of that idiot's lips? He needed to get rid of her. Immediately. Before Kondo could recover from the shock and question her further.   
  
"I will protect Takagi-san as ordered, sir." Saitoh gave Kondo a hasty salute before grabbing the maid by the arm and hauling her out of the restaurant - a task that should have been simple if the idiot hadn't insisted on fighting him every step of the way.  
  
"But ... but ..." The maid yelled in protest.  
  
Saitoh Saitoh didn't even pause. He half dragged and half carried her all the way to the Takagi estate. He knew he should have killed Tokio and her entire household when he had a chance. Those two morons! Rumors about him would undoubtedly be circulating all over Kyoto by sunset. Maybe it wasn't too late to correct his mistake; Tokio's head would make a nice paperweight on his desk.   
  
Except he now had orders, from both of his commanders, to keep the girl alive. How did Tokio manage that? Most of Kyoto's officials had less protection from the Shinsengumi.  
  
Nonetheless, he would get her somehow - it was simply be a matter of timing and strategy, both of which, he was a master at.  
  
So there was no way she would outwit him again.  
  
Saitoh stopped at the front gates of the Takagi estates and pounded on the wooden doors. Perhaps, instead of killing Tokio, he could just relieve her of a few body parts. After all, if he cut off her tongue, it would prevent her from saying something stupid and getting herself killed. So he would just be guarding her more encompassing interests, wouldn't he?  
  
But before he could formulate a plan to convince Kondo and Hijikata of the correctness of his analysis, the wooden gates of the Takagi estate swung slowly open, and amid its doorway, stood the object of his ire, staring and gaping at him like a frog.   
  
If only he had brought flies with him, he could have commemorated the occasion by stuffing them down her throat.  
  
"My lady!" The maid exclaimed and fought against his grip.  
  
And he simply let her go. Those idiots had nowhere to run.  
  
But that didn't prevent the maid from acting like a headless chicken with her feathers on fire. The moron raced towards Tokio, grabbed the other woman's arm, and hurried both of them into the estate.   
  
Which was precisely the wrong move for their tactical situation.   
  
Saitoh sneered and leisurely followed those two inside. He closed the heavy wooden gates behind him, barring their only source of escape and effectively trapping them like helpless kittens inside a cage reigned by a very hungry wolf.   
  
Come here, kitty, kitty.   
  
Saitoh advanced towards the maid.   
  
Neither Hijikata nor Kondo said anything about protecting that headless chicken, so he could do whatever he wanted. Of the two, she would be the easy one to break, and he had no doubt he could get her to scream nicely for him, in some dark corner out of Tokio's sight, where he planned to use the idiot to manipulate Tokio's fears until they became full blown nightmares.   
  
At which time, Tokio would be ripe for the plucking.  
  
And the beauty of it all was he could have complete victory without touching a hair on Tokio's head.   
  
Saitoh smirked and reached for victim number one.  
  
But at the last minute, Tokio threw herself between him and the maid. "Don't you dare to hurt Reiko-chan, we've got help coming."   
  
"But my lady," the maid wailed, "he IS the help!"   
  
"Don't tell him that!"   
  
"I wasn't telling him, I was telling you!"   
  
And upon the frustrated and the panic stricken look on Tokio's face, Saitoh burst out laughing. The maid had turned out to be more dangerous as an ally than an enemy. Too bad for Tokio. Nonetheless, the maid had done such a good job advancing his cause he almost considered letting her off the hook.   
  
That was until she decided to open her mouth again, at which time he was ready to reward her for her collaboration. "I didn't know Kondo-sama was going to send Saitoh-sama, my lady, I swear I didn't." The maid whined to Tokio, talking a mile a minute. "But I couldn't find Miyamaki-sama anywhere! You always told me to improvise, so when I heard that Kondo-sama was eating at this noodle shop, I improvised and went to him instead. I swear I only said to Kondo-sama what you told me to say to Miyamaki-sama. I know you hate Saitoh-sama. But you said we should fight fire with fire, and you've always called Saitoh-sama the biggest monster of them all, so I'm sure you'll make him useful somehow. You always do think of something!" The maid finished her little monologue with a beatific smile on her face.  
  
But Tokio, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to faint. After all, insulting a samurai was grounds for immediate execution, and she knew it. He could see how close she was on the verge of a breakdown. All she needed was a little encouragement from him.   
  
Oh, he was having such a good day.   
  
"Called me a monster did you." He said mildly, which usually eroded his enemy's defenses faster than any display of rage. Fear paralyzed, so those in fear only knew where to jump when faced with the right cues. But when faced with the wrong cues, like Tokio was, they looked for guidance, any sort of guidance, in the hopes of finding an escape. Therefore, all he had to do was slowly guide Tokio into complying with his every whim.  
  
Who knew it was going to be this easy? He had beaten her, and all that was left, was for her to acknowledge his superiority. "Why don't you start begging?" He whispered into Tokio's ear.   
  
And he could see his suggestion working its way into her brain. Her knees began to look too weak to support her. Surrender would come at any minute now.  
  
Victory was so close at hand he could taste it.   
  
But at that crucial moment, a loud pounding came from the front gate.  
  
And it annulled everything he had labored so hard for. He had seemed forgotten as the two women focused their attention on the new intruder.   
  
Saitoh turned and growled at the unseen enemy beyond the gates. Which idiot dared to snatch his victory from him?   
  
Not that he cared. He had no intention of letting anyone delay his revenge. Tokio could go and answer the door after she properly begged for his forgiveness.  
  
However, when he returned his attention to the two women, he found them hiding behind him and looking up at him with bright shining eyes. Like he was their savior.  
  
It set his teeth on edge.   
  
He had wanted to be feared, not adored.   
  
But before he could straighten the two women out, the pounding came from the gates again, and this time, it was accompanied by boorish snarling. "You will f*** open the door now!"  
  
Such eloquence, no matter the women wanted nothing to do with the idiot. In fact, the idiot's words sent the women sidling so close to Saitoh they risked looking like Siamese triplets.   
  
Which was exactly what he did not want.   
  
The idiot had ruined his plan for revenge beyond salvage, and Saitoh intended to make that loudmouthed moron pay for it.   
  
As soon as someone would open the gates and let the idiot in.  
  
"Aren't you going to get the door?" Saitoh asked the maid.   
  
And the girl started wailing.  
  
A response he interpreted to mean 'no'. So he turned to Tokio instead, and was about to make her open the door when he noticed her eyeing his daisho pair with a very determined look, almost as if she planned to "borrow" the blades again.  
  
Great. He had somehow gotten himself stuck with a maid that won't answer the door, and a "lady" that didn't behave like any woman he had ever met.   
  
What was wrong with everyone in the Takagi household?  
  
More than that, who had managed to scare these two women so badly that the maid risked her life begging help from a Shinsengumi commander?  
  
But whoever it was, the loudmouthed idiot sounded like a man whose face he would enjoy rearranging.  
  
Time for someone to pay for his misery.  
  
Saitoh marched up to the door.  
  
He yanked it open.  
  
And suddenly, everything made sense.   
  
"Hello, Takeda-kun." Saitoh said through clenched teeth.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Next Chapter: Afternoon Tea  
  
Special thanks to Kamorgana for beta-reading.  
  
****************************  
  
Japanese terms:  
  
Daisho - The long and short sword pair samurais wear.  
  
Haori - The overcoat wore by Japanese men  
  
*************************  
  
Response to Comments:  
  
Moonsilver: I don't know which is scarier: Saitoh with roses, or Saitoh with a severed head :)  
  
Firuze Khanume: I hope this chapter lives up to your high standards as well.  
  
Alyson Metallium: LOL. I couldn't put it better myself: one psychotic girl for one psychotic Shinsengumi.   
  
Kamorgana: The chains ... the chains ... author runs off to think up new story ideas.  
  
EEevee: There is very little mention of Tokio in the RK series - only two lines, just enough for me to come up with crazy story ideas :)  
  
saitofan108: For this story, Saitoh and Tokio's marriage isn't going to be arranged. It would be much more fun forcing him to win Tokio's heart *evil laughter*  
  
Mary-Ann: Saitoh-torture is definitely not over yet.  
  
Charmed-Anime: Saitoh-torture can't stop until he marries Tokio, even then ... *smirks*  
  
Leila Winters: I hope I am able to keep up the humor of the story.  
  
merryday: The quote is by Edmund Burke, and it is one of my favorites.   
  
Dana Daidouji: I have a twisted mind too, sometimes (or is it most of the time?)  
  
Wolf Of Mibu: Like Kenshin said: "To marry Saitoh, Tokio must be a Buddha" (in other words, someone who is in the clouds :) )  
  
kakurenbo: Makes one wonder what he'd bring for a marriage proposal ...  
  
bonessasan: Saitoh may never find his balance again *evil laughter*  
  
JadeGoddess: It was a misunderstanding on Tokio's part, she thought that the skull was a wax figure, and hence her calmness (and thank you for pointing out that the passage is not as clear as it should be).  
  
jbramx2: Yes, poor Saitou ... *smirks*  
  
Kenta Divina: And it is now too late for Saitoh to save any of his dignity :)  
  
teddy grahms: Saitoh always ends up babysitting Tokio somehow, doesn't he?  
  
ESP: There will be more romance in the upcoming chapters.  
  
raine84: There are a lot of great SxT fics out there, and I hope that you will continue to like the pairing.  
  
The Bloody Queen of Hearts: Thank you.  
  
junyortrakr: Thank you  
  
Mara: I love "Saitoh Tokio A Life", and I am still hoping for updates to "Mist Covered Mountains" (no pressure though). And as for my other story, I plan to return to it eventually. But I am considering starting another SxT fic or a Misao fic first. 


	8. Afternoon Tea

Author's note: Thanks to the following people for reviewing my one-shot "Nothing More": Firuze Khanume, BarbaraSheridan, Angrybee, kamorgana, cosmiccastaway, TanukiGirl22, Mary-Ann, Malou, kitty-jinxx, and Liem.  
  
  
  
And thanks to the following people for their reviews on Falling: moonsilver, JadeGoddess, Alyson Metallium, EEevee, MissBehavin, Mary-Ann, Wolfgirl13, Dana Daidouji, kamorgana, junyortrakr, Firuze Khanume, TenTen Hyuga, teddy grahms, VanyD, Chibi Miffy, saitofan108, kitty, lifeischaos, Leah Durose, sadia, zennou-sakusha, ChiisaiLammy, tigerrelly, nekonomiko, luna-magic-2005, SukiYumi, Leila Winters, and kitty-jinxx.  
  
Special thanks to Kamorgana for beta reading.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 8: Afternoon Tea  
  
"Hello Takeda-kun." Saitoh said through clinched teeth. The mere sight of that moron was enough to push his mood from irritable to downright homicidal. The universe must had been busy conspiring against him, because he was now stuck in the same house, with all of his least favorite people - none of which he could kill.  
  
In short, he was trapped in hell.  
  
And under orders to stay.  
  
Which left him with only one way to solve his problem - to make Takeda disappear from his sight.   
  
Permanently.  
  
"Get lost." Saitoh growled and attempted to slam the heavy wooden gate in Takeda's face.   
  
But Takeda somehow managed to brace against the door in time to avoid getting his face smashed in, which was a real shame - the man was so notoriously hideous, any rearrangement of facial features would be an improvement.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Takeda demanded, sounding like he was actually expecting an answer.  
  
What a moron.  
  
Saitoh had no intention of providing Takeda with any information, not even about the current weather condition, much less about his orders from Kondo. He had better things to do with his time. So instead of saying another word, he tried to slam the gate closed again, and this time, hoping to break a few of Takeda's fingers in the process. Unfortunately, the wooden door was too heavy for maneuvering, and Takeda easily avoided dismemberment.   
  
But it didn't overly dishearten Saitoh. He glanced up at the darkening skies - life was full of danger, and Takeda might yet get struck down by lightening. And considering how bad his luck had been of late, Saitoh figured something must go his way. Soon. And if not, he had no issues with helping fate along a little by placing a lightening rod on top of Takeda's head.  
  
"I'm here for Takagi Tokio." Takeda said, snarling like a rabid animal. "And I have Hijikata-sama's permission to court the women. You. Do. Not. If you dare to get in my way, I WILL report you." Takeda started frothing at the mouth.  
  
Which troubled Saitoh not at all; he had seen Takeda do worse. But for Takeda to act like a vicious beast right in front of Tokio was stupid beyond measure.  
  
And this was Takeda's idea of a courting attempt?  
  
What an imbecile.  
  
On the other hand, considering that Takeda had tried to force himself on the girl, the very first time they had met, growling like a crazy mutt was downright gentlemanly for him. Takeda might even think of this as his "best behavior". And based on the man's history, to expect more would be unrealistic. If only Takeda was not a Shinsengumi, then Saitoh could do the world a favor by getting rid of that piece of trash.  
  
On other hand, if Takeda was not a Shisengumi, the townspeople would have banded together and stoned him already. Nonetheless, Saitoh felt it his sacred duty, as a human, to forcibly evict Takeda from any woman's home.  
  
Some animals should not be allowed to breed.  
  
Or, at least, that WAS Saitoh's intention, until he heard a voice call out behind him.  
  
"You are not scared of him, are you, Saitoh-sama?" The maid incited.  
  
That instantly reminded him how much he did not like the two women behind him either. So why was he protecting them? It would best if all these idiots annihilated each other, then there would be no more annoying people to ruin his day. It even had the added benefit of leaving him as the only man standing, and by default, the victor.  
  
What an elegant solution to all his problems.  
  
So instead of trying to slaughter Takeda, by himself, Saitoh pulled the gates wide open for his adversary. "Come in." He smiled.  
  
That nearly sent Takeda running the other way. The man looked so terrified, Saitoh wondered Takeda was going to wet his pants.   
  
What a coward.   
  
Saitoh reconsidered his strategy. Maybe he ought to act real friendly towards Takeda in the future, it seemed a much more effective application of terror; except, the idea was so nauseating, his stomach would surely rebel. On top of that, familiarity bred contempt, and if Takeda grew anymore contemptible, Saitoh wasn't sure he could resist breaking the Shinsengumi law by killing the bastard.  
  
"Are you coming in or not?" Saitoh grated out. As much as he would enjoy watching Tokio and Takeda annihilate each other, his patience wasn't infinite.   
  
Especially when it came to Takeda.  
  
And just as he was about to smash the idiot's face in again, Takeda edged through the gates like a drunken crab, sidling as far away from him as was physically possible.   
  
What a moron.  
  
"But Saitoh-sama, Kondo-sama said - " The maid started whining, but before she could finish, Tokio wisely clamped a hand over the idiot's mouth.  
  
Which prevented the headless chicken from saying more stupid things - an astute move on Tokio's part, since nothing that came out of the maid's mouth ever seemed to help their cause.  
  
"Please go and fetch refreshments for our guests." Tokio said to the maid. Then with a smile that looked pasted on, Tokio turned and formally greeted Takeda. "I am honored by your esteemed presence, samurai-sama." She bowed.   
  
Takeda bowed in return. And for countless minutes thereafter, the conversation revolved around pointless pleasantries, until Saitoh's mind grew numb from boredom.  
  
He began praying for lightening.  
  
However, before either of his enemies could be struck dead, Takeda managed to verbally pressure Tokio into inviting them inside.   
  
So they followed as Tokio led them through the inner recess of the estate, and into the garden, where, amid the picturesque landscape, a tearoom arose like a solitary haven for exalted priests. Shoji screens, on all four sides of the structure, opened to the surrounding scenery, giving it the advantage of a gazebo in summery weather - plenty of sunlight, lots of fresh air, and vista all around. Saitoh immediately disliked the place. There were too many bushes and trees for enemies to hide behind, but none of it gave any cover to the tearoom itself. It was a tactical nightmare.   
  
But Saitoh didn't share any of that information with Takeda; he merely arranged it so that he would have the least vulnerable seat and Takeda the most vulnerable one. After all, it would be a gift from heaven if Takeda got killed by a stray arrow.   
  
Which, unfortunately, couldn't occur fast enough for Saitoh's taste.  
  
"Have I told you how beautiful you are?" Takeda oozed towards Tokio.  
  
And Saitoh felt the need for a bath just for standing in the same room with that trash. Couldn't the moron at least wait until everyone was properly seated and the refreshments served? No wonder the two women risked their lives begging help from Kondo. Takeda fouled the air so badly they had no hope of surviving from asphyxiation anyways.   
  
So in the end, tactical advantage or no, Saitoh decided to abandon his original seating plan, and took the spot opposite of Takeda instead, careful to keep Tokio between him and the slime ball.   
  
Perhaps not getting rid of Takeda when he had a chance was a mistake.  
  
"We shall have to get to know each other better." Takeda said, continuing to spew slime at the girl, and this time, the moron's right hand reached out.   
  
To grope Tokio. In broad daylight. In front of two other witnesses. While in uniform.   
  
What kind of a lowlife. What a disgrace to the Shinsengumi.  
  
And despite his desire to see Tokio suffer, Saitoh's hand immediately reached for the hilt of his katana. Takeda's action would have disgusted any decent samurai beyond tolerance. It demanded swift justice.   
  
But fortunately, before he could break the Shinsengumi law by drawing his blade and chopping Takeda's arm off, Tokio leaned sideways, towards the maid - to ostensibly reach for the refreshments.  
  
Which also conveniently moved her out of Takeda's grasp.   
  
"Mochi, my lord?" Tokio asked, as she, not so innocently, turned and held the plate of food right where Takeda's outstretched hand was.  
  
Thus foiling Takeda's attack and saving herself; nonetheless, it took a good fifteen seconds before Saitoh stopped seeing red and forced himself to release his grip on his katana. As much as he would have enjoyed maiming Takeda, he had sworn his loyalty to the Shinsengumi and had avowed to uphold all its laws, including the one that forbid Shinsengumi members from dueling each other. Therefore, regardless of the circumstances, he could not, and would not, kill another captain for personal satisfaction. Besides, it was not as if Takeda got caught making trouble at a brothel. Everything the scumbag had done so far was within samurai privileges.  
  
So, in theory, he had no good reason to kill the scumbag. But it was hard to hold back where Takeda was concerned. Calling Takeda a depraved bastard would be the understatement of the year. The word "honor" was nowhere to be found in the scumbag's vocabulary. Instead of serving those above him and protecting those below him, Takeda lived to abuse every privilege. The scumbag was even known to use his own men as shields during battles. The only reason the bastard escaped Hijikata's purge was because he was sly - the scumbag knew when and how far to push things. Forcing himself on a helpless servant girl in a dark garden was exactly the type of behavior that the scoundrel stooped to - minimal risk of discovery, and even less risk of punishment. But forcing himself on the daughter of a prominent merchant was a totally different story, and it was probably the only reason behind this "courting attempt".   
  
Saitoh itched to kill that bastard - it would do so much to reinforce Shinsengumi discipline.   
  
But that was Hijikata's job, and not his.  
  
How unfortunate.  
  
Saitoh took several deep breaths. There was no need to go to extremes. Not yet. Takeda probably didn't deem it safe to risk a repeat of the garden incident, or the scumbag wouldn't be here playing games; therefore, so long as Tokio stayed convicted and refused to give in, she should be safe. And Saitoh knew, from first hand experience, that Tokio was nothing if not convicted, and she in no way resembled the helpless little butterflies that Takeda was so used to torturing. Plus, now, with another Shinsengumi here to referee, Takeda would not be able to resort to his more sordid methods.   
  
The scumbag's victory was far from assured.  
  
And Saitoh couldn't wait to have the last laugh.  
  
In fact, Tokio was handling Takeda's well-practiced sliminess commendably. Every time Takeda tried a dirty move, Tokio would gracefully redirect the idiot's attention: "Look over there, isn't that butterfly beautiful? And here, try some tea, Takeda-sama. Oh, silly me, I had forgotten the cups before. Can I get you anything else, Takeda-sama?"  
  
And when even that had failed, Tokio would quickly give the maid a signal, and the other girl would interfere. "But my lord, you must try more mochi, my lady spent the whole morning making it just for you." Or, "Takeda-sama doesn't want any more tea? My lady would be heart broken to hear that."   
  
So the game went. Every move the scumbag made, the Tokio team thwarted. The operation on the women's side was so well orchestrated, Saitoh suspected those two of practicing their routine beforehand. And as much as Takeda probed, the idiot couldn't find an opening. Truth be told, Takeda might even be losing. Judged by the grimace on the moron's face after each bite of forced feeding, the mochi and the tea probably didn't taste very good.  
  
Saitoh smirked.  
  
What a pleasure it was to watch Takeda played for a fool by his own victim.   
  
Talk about divine justice.  
  
Saitoh sat back and enjoyed the show - it was like getting ringside seats to the pummeling of an obnoxious adversary that he wasn't allowed to touch.   
  
And to have Tokio do the pummeling was an added pleasure. His clever little kitten just sat there, looking so prim and proper, while masterminding the entire victory - outclassing her opponent without the moron even realizing it.   
  
Saitoh always did admire those that could defeat their foe without breaking a sweat. Maybe he ought to give the little kitten a treat afterwards for doing such a great job of punishing the annoying gnat for him.   
  
On the whole, things were going better than he could have hoped, except for one minor detail. All the food ended up on the corner of the table between Tokio and Takeda, and Saitoh's stomach was starting to protest about its interrupted lunch. Unfortunately, although it was already dinnertime, there was no hope for food in the near future - Takeda showed no sign of wanting to leave, and it would be against orders to leave Tokio alone with the scumbag.  
  
But Saitoh also had no intention of starving on the account of those two.  
  
So he decided to help himself to a mochi from the plate.  
  
"Those are not for you, Saitoh-sama!" The maid yelled and tried to move the food out of his reach.  
  
Talk about stingy. From the way the girl acted, one would have thought that he was the enemy.  
  
Perhaps he was.  
  
But he was a hungry enemy. And before the maid could move the plate entirely out of his reach, he managed grabbed a mochi - the women's reflexes simply could not contend against a trained warrior's.   
  
Nonetheless, he really ought to have a talk with those two about their attitudes.   
  
He bit into the mochi.  
  
And he immediately wished the maid had moved faster. He had realized that Tokio was a lousy cook from Takeda's expression, but even knowing that didn't prepare him for the horror to come. The mochi tasted like pure poison. That piece of toxic waste Tokio called dessert was saltier than seawater, and bitter too, with a heavy dose of lemon.   
  
But no hint of sugar anywhere.   
  
And why was the red bean paste crunchy?  
  
Not that he wanted to ask. He would rather not know. His tongue was already screaming in agony, he didn't need his mind to compound the terror. To seek some hope of relieve, his hand raced for the teapot. He needed something to wash the toxin down before it killed all his taste buds.   
  
"Saitoh-sama!" Tokio yelled, sounding urgent.  
  
But he didn't even pause, nor did he bother with cups - there was no time for that. So instead, he poured the tea straight into his mouth.   
  
Which turned out to be his second biggest mistake of the day.  
  
The tea tasted more rancid than milk that had been sitting out for two weeks, and it smelled fishy too. Yes, he meant fish. He had never realized it was possible to mess up on tea brewing, but count on Tokio to achieve the impossible.  
  
"Are you all right?" Tokio asked, sounding gravely concerned  
  
She should be, her cooking must have killed many of her guests in the past.   
  
Saitoh rushed to the edge of the tearoom and spit everything out into the garden, which he realized wasn't the socially graceful thing to do, but it certainly beat dying of food poisoning.  
  
Unfortunately, even that didn't help. The tea left such a putrid aftertaste, he was certain that it could never be washed out.  
  
How did Takeda manage to swallow that stuff? Repeatedly. The moron had no taste buds.   
  
"You are leaving." He declared to Takeda.  
  
Which earned him an angry look. "Why?"   
  
"Because if you don't leave, then I can't leave. And I am NOT staying for dinner."   
  
Perhaps it was the vehemence in his voice, or simply remembered terror - his statement actually earned a shudder from Takeda. For once, the two of them agreed on something.  
  
Takeda immediately got to his feet and excused himself.   
  
Good to know that the moron's survival instinct hadn't been overridden by lust.   
  
Because dinner would surely kill them both.   
  
"You are not staying?" Tokio asked them with wide, innocent eyes. "But I was going to serve sashimi. You must try it. I picked out the fish myself at the market three days ago."   
  
Which only served to quicken their steps. The mere thought of eating a three day old fish was enough to send any sane person running. In fact, Takeda almost broke into a sprint, racing for the front door.   
  
Saitoh made sure he wasn't far behind.  
  
"Good night." Takeda hurriedly unbarred the gate and made for a final escape.  
  
And Saitoh was about to follow suite when the maid called out. "But Saitoh-sama, you must stay for dinner or you'll hurt my lady's feelings. Kondo-sama had ordered you to protect my lady, and her feelings are surely included."  
  
That sent Takeda screeching down the street and around the corner so fast, the moron's sandals looked like they caught on fire.  
  
What a coward.  
  
But he would have to deal with Takeda later. For now, he had much more pressing annoyances.   
  
He closed the gate and turned his attention back to the two women. He really needed to have a lengthy talk with them about the correct way of interpreting an order.  
  
Plus that long overdue lesson on proper respect.  
  
----------------------------  
  
Next Chapter: New Alliances 


	9. New Alliances

Chapter 9: New Alliances  
  
Saitoh slammed the front gates closed and turned his attention back to the two women. It was about time he had that nice long talk with them about their duty to obey his every command. "You two shall submit to me at all times, you shall not speak until spoken to, and you shall ..."  
  
He let the rest of his lecture die a sudden and premature death.  
  
After all, no one was listening.  
  
The maid had already raced off, busily clambering up a ladder that leaned against the estate's outer wall, while Tokio stood on the ground and called out solicitously, "Be careful Reiko-chan!"  
Neither was paying him a shred of attention.  
  
He didn't know whether to be amused or angry at their flagrant disrespect. If those two had been part of his unit, he would have demanded their seppuku on the spot. But as it was, he had very few options. He could have the headless chicken executed as part of his samurai privilege, but he saw no point in killing a stand-in when it was Tokio he wanted. He could also have both women thrown into the Shinsengumi dungeons - he rather liked the idea, but he could live without the resulting rumors  
  
The rumors ... Saitoh winced. He did not look forward to returning to the Shinsengumi headquarters. He could already anticipate the gossip circulating there. 'My lady might have had your sword in her hand, but it refused to come out ...' He still couldn't believe the maid had said something so extraordinarily stupid. He needed to fix those two, so incidents like that would never happen again.  
  
Unfortunately, stupidity might not be a fixable character trait.  
  
Unlike bad cooking.  
  
Saitoh suppressed a shudder.  
  
"Takeda-sama is gone, my lady." The maid whooped from her perch like a half-witted monkey.  
  
Only a moron like her would climb up a wall for such an obvious observation. But if the little monkey wanted to fall down and break her neck, it would certainly save him the trouble of breaking it himself.  
  
Not that she was worth the trouble. All he needed now was to go back to Kondo and report his mission a success. He never wanted to see those two again, and dinner was absolutely out of the question.  
  
"I am leaving. You are the worst cook I've ever met, and you should be ashamed to call yourself a woman." He said to Tokio.  
  
He expected her to grow angry at his words, or try to contend otherwise, but Tokio simply smiled, "You must be right, Saitoh-sama, so please don't let us delay you. Have a good night."  
  
Tokio bowed deeply, and with such joyfulness, Saitoh jerked away from her like he would from a poisonous snake. The woman was up to something; he could feel it. Only a moment ago, she did everything she could to keep him here: 'Saitoh-sama, you must stay for dinner, Kondo-sama had ordered you to.' And now, she couldn't wait to get rid of him. However, should he expose her duplicity, Tokio would certainly try to deny the whole incident by claiming that the words came out the maid's mouth; except, he had no doubt who put them there - the logic behind the statement far surpassed the headless chicken's mental capabilities.  
  
Time to make Tokio confess to her schemes.  
  
But on second thought, perhaps he shouldn't let his personal enmity against Tokio get in the way. Any scheme she was concocting now was unlikely to be aimed against him - Takeda was a far better target.  
  
So why eat three-day-old sashimi to foil a plot like that? Especially since he would enjoy watching Takeda die a miserable death.  
  
Time to continue merrily on his way so he could see to Takeda's funeral.  
  
He headed for the front gates.  
  
Only to be greeted by a loud crash as the wooden ladder that the maid was clambering on, toppled onto the stony ground. "No! Saitoh-sama, no! You can't leave!" The maid scrambled off the ladder, raced towards him, tripped over her own foot, and almost landed on top of him.  
  
But at the last second, he sidestepped, and the maid hit the ground, face first instead. That didn't even slow her down. She immediately reached out and clutched onto his right leg with both of her arms, like a drunkard to a bottle. "You can't let him go, my lady. He is supposed to stay, like we practiced!"  
  
Practiced? For what?  
  
"Reiko-chan, let the nice samurai-sama go." Tokio said, with a voice like venomous honey, while grabbing onto his left arm and pulling him towards of the front gates.  
  
That in turn caused the maid to tighten her grip on his leg. Then almost as if on cue, they both pulled at once, treating him like a toy in middle of a tug-of-war.  
  
Those two insane munchkins!  
  
The law authorized samurais to execute commoners who accidentally bumped into them in middle of a busy street. This ... this was basis enough to put their whole families to death. He had never met anyone this audacious. Or suicidal. But those two little fools seemed blissfully unaware of their transgression; instead, they focused their entire attention on the ongoing squabble.  
  
"We can't let Saitoh-sama go, Takeda-sama is going come back and kill us tonight. He had already tried to kill Ichiro-kun. We are all gonna dieeeeee!" The maid's shrieks gathered in octave and strength until it almost shattered his eardrums.  
  
He couldn't remember being in a more ridiculous situation in his life.  
  
"If you two don't let go right now, you won't have to worry about Takeda. I'll kill you first." He snarled.  
  
Which brought instant and complete silence, along with his release. And to his pleasure, both women started eyeing him with mounting fear.  
  
Finally!  
  
But like all his victories of late, it didn't endure for more than a second. The maid immediately went back to shrieking again, more hysterical than ever. "Your gaijin magic is not going to work against Takeda-sama, my lady. He is a samurai. A SAMURAI! He's got the Emperor's divine protection."  
  
Against gaijin magic? Political ideology aside, if the Emperor could protect samurais against the gaijins, Japan would rule the world. Fortunately, gaijin magic didn't exist. All those "potions" sold by European merchants were nothing more than exotic poisons ... poisons that had grown immensely popular amongst the Ishin vermin. Slip a little toxin into tea: instant assassination. Even a helpless woman like Tokio could successfully kill a Shinsengumi captain. To compound the problem, those poisons were difficult to detect, their tastes and smells often masked by the food. Sometimes, even when guests do notice peculiar flavorings and aromas in their food and tea, they blame it on a lousy cook. All would seem so innocent until they ended up dead the next morning.  
  
Cause of death: unknown.  
  
In a city full of dead samurais, no one would give it a second thought.  
  
A flawless plan for a perfect murder.  
  
Suddenly, the burning sensation in his mouth didn't feel so innocent. In fact, his stomach gave several ominous snarls and started throbbing in piercing pain. To make matters worse, a wave of nausea hit him with such force it made him feel faint.  
  
He didn't need to be a doctor to recognize the effects of poison.  
  
Damn it, he should have recognized all the warnings: how neither woman took a bite of their own food, how they force fed Takeda then ran the guy out of the door, and how they tried to get rid of him even now so they wouldn't have to deal with a dead Shinsengumi on their premises.  
  
He had been so blind. Tokio was not a lousy cook. She was a black widow.  
  
Saitoh frantically tried to recall everything about the poison he had swallowed: the color, the texture, the smell, the aftertaste ... But he hadn't been studying his food that closely before, and Tokio had already managed to destroy all his taste buds, so he had no hope of analyzing any flavor.  
  
In short ... no one would be able to identify the poison ... and if he couldn't get the antidote from Tokio, he was as good as dead.  
  
"Give me the antidote!"  
  
But instead of complying with his command, Tokio smiled and played dumb. "Antidote for what?"  
  
"For the poison you fed me."  
  
"I don't know what you are talking about, but you should leave now."  
  
A suggestion only a suicidal moron would take. There was no way he was leaving here without the antidote. He reached out with his left hand, grabbed Tokio by the throat, and started shaking her, "Where is the antidote?"  
  
"Antidote for what? There is no poison."  
  
"No, of course we would not poison you," the maid added, "only villains and people with no honor would do such a thing."  
"You two are not samurais, you have no honor!"  
  
His statement brought several seconds of bewildered silence from the two women- seconds that he could ill afford to lose. He didn't know how much longer he had; Takeda might already be lying dead in a ditch somewhere. For a moment, Saitoh was tempted to tighten his grip around Tokio's throat so he could squeeze the answer out of her.  
  
However, if he should accidentally strangle her to death, he would destroy his last hope of survival. So instead, he bore down on her with every ounce of military authority and physical intimidation, "If you don't go and fetch the antidote for me right now, I'll slowly break all your fingers." He enunciated every word with excruciating clarity, making sure that she understood the consequences of her disobedience.  
  
As expected, Tokio's small frame trembled at his words, and he watched as the blood drained out of her cheeks. He had never studied her this closely before - her face merely an inch away from his - and he wasn't sure how to interpret what he saw. Tokio looked so harmless, like a pale and docile porcelain doll. Her large brown eyes, opened even wider due to fear, were made crystalline by the oncoming tears. Her lower lip trembled like a rose petal caught in the summer breeze ... glistening ... glossy ... silken ... soft ... he wondered what she would do if he ran his thumb across it. Would she try to bite him, or would she invite him in?  
  
He raised his right hand, and her lips opened.  
  
"Why do you insist that I poisoned you?"  
  
Tokio's question snapped him out of his reverie, and he gave his head a sharp shake - the toxin must have acted much faster than he had anticipated, affecting his mind along the way.  
  
"Don't play stupid, if you didn't poison me, there would have been no pain in my stomach, and my head would not -"  
  
He cut himself off before he inadvertently revealed the true extent of his weakness. He didn't survive this long by blabbering his problems to the first enemy that came along. Nonetheless, he had already said too much. He didn't understand how Tokio constantly managed to get him into such quandaries.  
  
But ... she looked so innocent, not at all like someone capable of murder. It amazed him how expertly she could fake an air of wholesomeness.  
  
"What did you have for lunch?" Tokio asked.  
  
He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. The girl had better not try to blame the poisoning on the noodle shop owners. "I had two bites of soba," certainly not enough to get poisoned.  
  
Right? But he had even less of Tokio's food .... maybe ...  
  
"What did you have for breakfast?" She asked.  
  
Breakfast? That was for people who had too much time on their hands. He had barely caught two hours of sleep between his nightly patrol and Kondo's morning meeting. Besides, no assassin would be good enough to break into the Shinsengumi headquarters, so the culprit had to be either the noodle shop owners or Tokio.  
  
Or perhaps, Tokio and the noodle shop owner colluded with each other.  
  
He should never have left Kondo all alone in that noodle shop. Kondo could have been assassinated: poisoned, stabbed, strangled -  
  
"Maybe you are having stomachaches because you are hungry!" Tokio said.  
  
His fingers sprang open.  
  
Hunger ... that could be a possibility, and it would certainly explain why Tokio looked so innocent.  
  
Because she was.  
  
It would also mean that no one had tried to poison anyone, and Kondo should be perfectly safe back at the Shinsengumi headquarters.  
  
A profound sense a relief washed over Saitoh. Still, it failed to explain the maid's earlier comment. "If you did not poison me, why did your maid say that gaijin magic doesn't work against samurais?"  
  
Tokio clammed up immediately, and started looking guiltier than sin.  
  
So his kitten was up to no good after all.  
  
He lifted his arm towards her throat again. This time, she seemed to have finally learned her lesson, and immediately confessed to her crime.  
  
"Reiko-chan was talking about a gun..."  
  
Saitoh's jaw nearly dropped. No wonder the headless chicken was going hysterical about 'gaijin magic'. Tokio planned to shoot Takeda. "Do you even own a gun? Have you ever fired one before?"  
  
"The German merchant that gifted the pistol to my father showed me everything." Tokio said confidently. "All I have to do is load it, aim it, and pull the trigger."  
  
In other words, the girl could barely tell one end of the weapon from the other, and she probably couldn't hit a tree standing two feet away from her. That meant, any target she aimed at was perfectly safe, while all the bystanders were fair game. He could already picture a courtyard littered with bodies of innocent spectators, "You should have poisoned Takeda instead, because your plan to shoot him will never work. He will kill you before you can even draw your pistol. If you want to commit suicide, go and hang yourself, it would a lot less painful."  
  
"Perhaps, but this way, I have a chance of taking Takeda down with me!" Tokio's hands clinched into fists by her side - little fists that couldn't hurt a fly. It made her looked like an overeager kitten ready to pounce on a little mouse.  
  
Except, Takeda was no mouse - the man was a huge rat, and exterminating vermin like that was no easy task. A couple of Takeda's subordinates had tried. Failed. And got decapitated for their troubles.  
  
Tokio would meet the same fate.  
  
Even if, by some cosmic fluke, she did manage to kill Takeda, she would still be executed for murdering a samurai. Either way she would die.  
  
Which would translate into nothing but trouble for Saitoh. Whilst he admired her desire to eliminate evil, for her own sake, she needed to learn how to handle a weapon. "You are not shooting Takeda. Stop your childish behavior."  
  
"Childish! How is my behavior childish?" She riled against him. "In your opinion, oh brilliant samurai, what am I suppose to do when Takeda comes back tonight and forces himself into my bed?! Say 'no'? I already tried that last night, and he almost killed several of my servants for it. He terrified them so badly that ... that ... most of them didn't even show up for work today. Those that did ...I had to sent them home ..." she trailed off uncertainly, "I didn't want anyone else hurt ..."  
  
"Then why is she still here?" Saitoh pointed at the maid. "Too stupid to find her way home?"  
  
He sank his verbal barb, but it lacked his usual sharpness - his heart simply wasn't in it. And after earning an angry glance from Tokio, he let the matter drop.  
  
So, that was what the whole afternoon spectacle was about. No wonder the maid risked her life begging help from Kondo, and no wonder Tokio wanted to shoot Takeda. All in all, Saitoh didn't know which surprised him more: Takeda's audacity at targeting a woman from such a prominent family, or that there was actually a reason behind Tokio's seeming madness.  
  
Either way, it angered him to know that two helpless women had demonstrated more honor, wit, and courage than a fellow Shinsengumi captain. Some people should not be allowed to live, much less command obedience and respect from other samurais. It was about time someone put a stop to Takeda's shameful conduct. "I will handle Takeda from here on."  
  
But instead of acting properly appreciative of his help, Tokio gave him a suspicious look, "Why should I trust you? You are a Shinsengumi too."  
  
"If you don't want my help, why did you have your maid to ask me to stay?"  
  
"I merely had her to remind you of your duty. How am I to know that there are Shinsengumis who take duty seriously? Whenever I bring up the word 'duty' to Takeda, he can't run away from it fast enough."  
  
Saitoh winced. Tokio certainly gauged Takeda well. Wasn't it enough for Takeda to drag his own name through the mud? Must that moron sully the Shinsengumi reputation as well?  
  
"My lady, I know you don't like Saitoh-sama, but he will protect us. He will." The maid pleaded frantically with Tokio, "I know I am not very smart, my lady, but trust me this once. Saitoh-sama is not like the other samurais. All of them would have killed us for pulling on them, like we did earlier to Saitoh-sama. But he didn't even try to hurt us. He kindly asked us to let go. Saitoh-sama is a nice man, he is just misunderstood!"  
  
Misunderstood. What was there to misunderstand? He was a Shinsengumi, and no Shinsengumi ever kindly asked anyone to do anything. "I threatened to kill you."  
  
But his clarification did nothing to wipe away the adoration in the maid's eyes, "You must be hungry, Saitoh-sama, my lady and I will prepare some dinner for you."  
  
Then without waiting for a response from him or Tokio, the headless chicken bounded off, dragging Tokio behind her.  
  
"I am not cooking dinner for him!" Tokio's angry protest could be heard even long after she disappeared from sight.  
  
Saitoh smirked. He always did like them spirited.  
  
The higher they rose, the harder they fell. And he loved to watch them fall.  
  
Nevertheless, he was now left standing alone in the courtyard, waiting for a dinner prepared by Tokio.  
  
He didn't even want to imagine what a horror that would be.  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Japanese terms:  
  
gaijin - Europeans  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Special thanks to Kamorgana for beta-reading. 


	10. Dinner

Chapter 10: Dinner 

Saitoh stared warily into the murky pool before him. So far so good, nothing dangerous had grown legs and walked out of it ... yet, but that didn't mean there weren't mutant creatures lurking just beneath the surface awaiting unsuspecting victims. He grimaced and cautiously poked his chopsticks into the soup bowl sitting on the table before him. No udon had ever seemed so dangerous before.

"Aren't you going to eat that?" The maid asked.

'No way in hell!' was the conclusion any logical man would have drawn. He was hungry, not suicidal. With the foul aftertaste of the mochi still burning a hole through his tongue, he had to have a death wish to try more of Tokio's cooking. He should go back to the Shinsengumi headquarters and be thankful of the mess they served in mess hall.

But life was not that simple.

Life had stopped being simple the moment he met Tokio.

He stared warily back at the noodle soup before him, and commanded his stomach to stop its somersaults. There was no time to get more food between now and the start of his patrol; plus, he hadn't really eaten the whole day, so he badly needed nourishment to keep up his strength.

He had a duty to keep himself in fighting condition before oncoming battles, and if he had to destroy all his taste buds to protect the good of Japan, so be it.

Saitoh held his breath, grabbed a chopstick full of noodles, and shoved it in his mouth.

The seasoning overwhelmed his tongue with such a jolt he forgot to chew before he swallowed.

The food was ... was ... decent ... some might even consider it ... good. To make sure that it wasn't hallucination caused by prolonged starvation, he immediately tried another mouthful of the noodles. Then another, and another.

Before he realized it, the bowl sat empty before him.

No, he didn't like the food. He couldn't possibly have liked Tokio's cooking. Intense hunger must have been the only reason he considered the udon edible.

"Wow, I had never seen anyone eat so fast before, Saitoh-sama." The headless chicken marveled with her chopsticks stuck halfway inside her open mouth.

He dismissed her. If those words had come from any half intelligent person he would have considered it an insult, but he no longer regarded the headless chicken as a thinking human being.

Nonetheless, Tokio had enough wits to recognize her maid's lapse in manners, and she immediately scrambled for a recovery. "Would you like some tea? It's freshly brewed." She inquired solicitously while pouring him a cup of the steaming liquid.

Like a good and obedient little kitten.

Saitoh gloated. Tokio had finally learned her place. This was how things should be: with him as the victor, and with her serving dinner and tea every night, and seeing to all his comforts.

All his needs.

What a beautiful picture - Tokio openly submissive to him.

He smiled gleefully and contemplated all the things he could have her do. Perhaps he should order her to prepare a bath for him, and ...

Thump!

The racket of something, or someone, smashing headlong into the dirt, disrupted Saitoh's reverie. He glanced towards the corner of the garden where the noise originated. Much to his annoyance, not only could he see an obvious dust cloud where the "landing" had occurred, the commotion got worse as he watched. All the bushes in the vicinity were brutally bashed aside by a half hidden hand, and the path of destruction clearly indicated someone heading their way. And the prowler, not satisfied with merely annihilating vegetation in his wake, had also frightened all the animals in the garden into immediate flight. The idiot couldn't have heralded his "sneak" arrival any louder by using trumpets.

Saitoh didn't even need to guess to know who it was.

Takeda!

The most incompetent moron in Kyoto. Even the dead couldn't have failed to notice the idiot's entrance.

Saitoh suppressed the urge to immediately drag the moron, by the hair, back to the Shinsengumi headquarters for basic training. How did that imbecile ever make the rank of captain? And now that piece of trash was creeping around a woman's house in middle of the night like a dirt-sucking rat. If the idiot was going to be so incompetent as to get caught anyways, at least walk through the front door like a human being!

Saitoh almost drew his sword so he could go and dismember the scumbag before anyone found out about this disgrace. For a second, he couldn't even tell which angered him more: the idiot's total lack of aptitude or honor.

To think that a small part of him had hoped that Tokio was like most women, prone to exaggeration, and that a fellow Shinsegumi captain would at least have enough intelligence to pretend to possess a shred of decency somewhere!

It was the last time he made THAT mistake.

Saitoh's hand itched to draw his short sword and use it like a throwing knife to "accidentally" spear the rat. Too bad Hijikata wouldn't buy such a ridiculous story no matter how much he dressed it up, and he did not relish the idea of committing seppuku over Takeda.

Still, that rat needed a lesson.

Saitoh's eyes roamed over his surrounding, and quickly settled on the pot of steaming tea sitting in middle of the table.

Perfect.

He grabbed the teapot and waited patiently while Takeda demolished half of the garden in an attempt to creep towards them. And as soon as Takeda's head popped into range, Saitoh casually emptied the entire teapot's steaming content straight over Takeda's scalp. The resulting scream could be heard for miles.

"You little bitch! By the time I am done with you, I'll make you wish you are dead." Takeda erupted from the bushes like a half cooked lobster jumping out of a boiling pot. Only to freeze completely as the idiot seemed to suddenly realize who his true opponent was.

Saitoh sneered and noted with satisfaction the blisters that were forming on the Takeda's forehead.

"You sure talk big for someone who screams like a girl." Saitoh drawled.

But Takeda's brain seemed too slow to keep up with the conversation; it had yet to recover from the surprise. "What ... what are you doing here?"

"That's MY question, ahou"

"Ahh ..." Takeda screeched in a voice a few octaves too high and nervously looked towards Tokio.

Silently pleading for her to come to his rescue.

Saitoh snorted in disdain. He couldn't understand how the moron managed to survive for so long. Tokio was clearly not the type to collaborate with an enemy in hopes of appeasement. Any "help" Tokio offered to Takeda would only get the moron killed that much faster.

And true to Saitoh's expectations, Tokio immediately offered her "assistance" in a honeyed voice, "We found some marbles in the garden, Takeda-sama, perhaps you lost them?"

"Yes. That's it! I lost my marbles, and I come looking for them." Takeda agreed eagerly.

Totally oblivious to Tokio's insult.

Which, Saitoh noted, annoyed Tokio to no end, and he could already see her brain working feverishly coming up with her next taunt. Saitoh had no doubt that Tokio could think of enough insults to last the night. Not that it would do her any good. Takeda was too stupid to recognize an insult - the idiot would probably describe their dialogue as him charming her with excellent conversation. Saitoh idly wondered if he allowed this little diversion to go on, who would ultimately "win".

Too bad it was not in his best interest to conduct such an experiment. Given enough time, Tokio would undoubtedly escalate the confrontation until it spun out of control.

The kitten was too spirited for her own good.

And too clever.

Who knew what kind of scheme she would dream up? He definitely didn't want to end up helping Tokio hide Takeda's corpse.

Or help Takeda bury hers.

Better to separate the two before the situation deteriorated irreversibly. "Let's go and find your marbles elsewhere." He gestured Takeda towards the door.

But Takeda didn't seem to get the hint. The moron just stood there and gaped at Tokio longingly. However, a not so subtle thumbing of the katana out of his scabbard got the idiot's attention, and Takeda followed him out of the Takagi household without further incident.

The two of them walked rest of the way to the Shinsengumi headquarters in heavy silence. He could feel the moron fuming the entire way, but he doubted that Takeda would cause him overt trouble - that coward only picked on the weak and the helpless.

But Saitoh was neither weak nor helpless. Nor was Hijikata.

Hence there was no way that Takeda would risk his neck, or Hijikata's wrath, by starting a duel he couldn't possibly win. And to seal the coward's defeat, both Takeda and Saitoh knew that there was not way for Takeda to get to Tokio until the next afternoon at the earliest.

After all, it might greatly shorten Takeda's life if the idiot chose to either break curfew by sneaking back to the Takagi estate, or by skipping his morning patrol.

Saitoh took out a cigarette and lit it, to celebrate the moron's deafeat. Any day that he could watch Takeda suffer was a good day.

And he had a feeling that it was going to be a great upcoming week.

----------------------------------------

The warmth of the day gave away to the chill of the night as the sun set beyond the dark horizon. But Saitoh didn't mind it. He required none of the outdoor warmth. There was enough heat in the bedroom.

For both of them.

He settled back into his futon and watched as Tokio swayed towards him, wearing a white yakuta so sheer, it revealed more than it hid.

And what a view it revealed.

He smiled appreciatively as his eyes explored every curve of her figure, every motion of her body. She had the supple physique of a consummated dancer, and the flawless skin that would have put all the geishas in Kyoto to shame.

And she was all his.

Suddenly, as if sensing his intense interest, she paused in her steps diffidently and lowered her gaze. She batted her eyelashes in uncertainty, almost as if begging for his permission to approach. It drove him wild. Her combination of innocence and sensuality made him crave her with mind numbing passion. Every swing of her hip, every rise and fall of her chest, kept him hungering for more.

He beckoned her to him, and after a touch of demure hesitancy, she flowed into his arms.

"Saitoh-sama," she pressed her soft curves against him and whispered sensuously into his ear, "do you want me as much as I want you?"

"Oh yes," he groaned.

Oh yes.

Her cloth fell away.

She ...

"Captain Saitoh," a sharp knock on his shoji door startled Saitoh and flung him abruptly back into the waking world. His eyes snapped open, his body jolted into the sitting position, and his hand reflexively gripped the handle of the katana lying next to his futon.

"This is your wake up call." A disinterested voice from the other side of the wooden panel intoned before moving off.

Leaving every nerve in Saitoh's body ready for combat, but with no enemy to destroy.

Saitoh gritted his teeth, took several deep breaths, and forced his heart rate back to normal. Ordinarily, all the adrenalin rushing through his system would have dispelled any lingering dream from his mind, but not this time. His dream world wrapped around him like a web, beaconing him back to its seductive depth.

But he quickly forced the lingering fog of desire out of his mind.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and released his sword.

He stood up.

Every single muscle in his body protested at the exertion. He had never remembered hating mornings quite this much before. Waking up after one of these dreams was worse than waking up with a hangover. He felt more exhausted now than when he had gone to bed two hours ago - it felt almost as if he had stayed up all night, performing hard labor.

Well, he supposed he did.

Although no man would complain against such pleasurable work, he still wanted Tokio out of his dreams. He had more important things to do: a populace to rescue, the Ishin shishi to squash, and a country to save. He didn't have time for the silly kitten.

Besides, he had no idea why his mind conjured her in the first place. Even if he were to dream about women, Tokio should be the last person on anyone's list. She was disrespectful, disobedient, devious, imprudent, and unreasonable.

Everything that a sane man would avoid.

She would not make a good wife.

She would not even make a good mistress.

His sanity must have decided to taken a vacation because of prolonged exposure to her insufferable presence. But it was time to regain his control. He force her firmly out of his mind and purged her from his dreams.

Saitoh left his room and headed to bathhouse for a quick rinse down, before reporting to Kondo for his morning shift. On his way towards the stairs, he happened upon the page going from room to room with the morning wakeup calls. He was usually already out of his quarters before the boy even started the rounds - he had not slept in this late for a long time.

Saitoh sighed wearily and decided to use the coldest water he could find for his morning bath. The onslaught of liquid ice against his skin revived him.

He got dressed, skipped breakfast, and headed for Kondo's office.

But to his surprise, he found Okita waiting for him in the hallway outside of the office.

"Good morning, Saitoh-san." Okita greeted with the usual air of simulated happiness. "How was your night patrol?"

"Uneventful." Saitoh replied guardedly. "Aren't you supposed to be on your morning patrol right now?"

"Yes, but Kondo-sama had requested that I accompany him to his daily meetings this week. He had wanted to give you some rest." Okita gave another huge smile.

A smile that seemed so innocent but it hid a world of secrets. Was Okita a circumspect way for Kondo to countermand Hijikata and get a new aide, or was this Kondo and Hijikata's way of lightening Okita's workload?

Saitoh studied Okita out of the corner of his eye. Okita looked no worse than usual, but that said little. Okita had always been very adept at hiding his illness; however, the fact that Hijikata had moved Okita from night patrol to morning patrol, and now to the role of a mere honor guard, said volumes. If they continue to reduce Okita's duties, sooner or later, everyone would figure out Okita's secret.

But none of that was any of his business. For now, Hijikata's clique could play their little games all they wanted. So long as they didn't endanger the welfare of Japan or the Shinsengumi, he saw no reason to interfere. Besides, he welcomed a break from having to deal with idiotic politicians.

He needed no encouragement to leave Okita to suffer alone.

He shrugged and went back to his room. To his bed.

To finally getting some rest.

-----------------------------------

Chapter 11: Poetry

-----------------------------------

Special thanks to Kamorgana and Firuze for beta-reading.


	11. Hell hath no fury

Author's note: I want to thank everyone for your continual support of this story. I really appreciate all your comments and I reread them often. I know that I had promised "Poetry" in the previous chapter, but in the hopes of finishing this story one day, I have decided to move further along in the story line. Thank you for your patience, and I will put "updating my fics more often" as part of my New Year's resolution. 

Special thanks to Kamorgana for betaing.

--------------------

Chapter 11: Hell hath no fury

Saitoh woke up three hours later from a dreamless sleep, feeling more refreshed than he had in weeks. He got out of his futon, donned his uniform, and promptly left the Shinsengumi headquarters. It was not yet noon and he still had over an hour before Takeda's morning patrol ended, but he started towards the Takagi estates anyways. As much as Saitoh detested his current assignment as Tokio's protector, he considered it a matter of honor to uphold all his duties to his utmost ability. Besides, he had endured worse. Watching Tokio whittle Takeda away was infinitely more preferable than watching politicians' brains atrophy. Plus, his early arrival should give him plenty of time to sharpen his kitten's claws for Takeda's appearance. 

The mere thought of an afternoon filled with endless amusements put Saitoh in such a predatory mood he almost bared his fangs at a random passerby. 

That was until he reached Tokio's neighborhood, where a dark haze of dread and panic abruptly darkened his midday fun. He watched as local residents peeked warily from the safety of their doorways, too terrified to venture out of their households, but too anxious to simply barricade themselves inside their fortresses. However, at the first sight of him, they all scurried back into their holes like frightened rabbits. The sound of an entire neighborhood bolting their front gates simultaneously could put the loudest war drums to shame. From experience, Saitoh knew that he rarely inspired this much fear overnight. 

Especially since he had not killed anyone in this neighborhood lately.

No, it was not his presence that aroused their dread. It was his uniform. Or more precisely, the bastard that was currently abusing the authority that came with that uniform.

Takeda.

Saitoh could smell that rat's stink. The cretin must be trying to force himself upon his latest victim again, and from the reactions Saitoh had seen so far, everyone in the neighborhood could testify to the escalation of Takeda's criminal activities. This level of stupidity broke records even for that imbecile. The moron must have grown truly bold from his past successes, or very desperate from his current failures, to commit such a low-handed crime in such an influential neighborhood.

In broad daylight. 

Not to mention that the idiot still had over an hour left of his morning shift. Only a moron with a death wish would cut patrol to harass a pretty face. And to do it in front of hundreds of witnesses who had connections to half of the power brokers in the city … 

Saitoh lengthened his stride. Critics of the Shinsengumi were going to have a field day with this. 

Unfortunately, any possibility of suppressing this incident had died a violent death long ago. The tumult from the Takagi estate hit Saitoh before he even got within half a block of the place, and the sight that greeted him from within the broken gates of the residence was even more negative. Fleets of screaming servants scrambled about the courtyard - some seemingly with no other purpose than to create more chaos, while others were busily trying to exterminate the huge rat that was dragging their unwilling mistress towards the door. Two kitchen knife wielders, four cooking pan holders, and one broomstick brandisher encircled Tokio and Takeda. And while Tokio kicked and struggled against Takeda's hold with all her might, her protectors took turns trying to inch into striking distance of the rat; in response, Takeda cagily held off the servants by sweeping his katana in wide arcs about him. But the threat of possible death failed to intimidate any of Takeda's adversaries. The servants actually seized the advantage of their superior numbers and slowly tightened the noose. Their courage, determination, and initiative spoke well of their character and their love for their mistress; too bad they were all heading towards their doom. The servants' strategy had one fatal flaw: they would all soon be inside the killing zone of a well-trained samurai armed with a razor-sharp katana, while they still had a long way to go before they could place Takeda within the throwing range of their miscellaneous household equipment. To make matters worse, Tokio's idea of self-defense placed herself in even greater danger. She kicked, scratched, and elbowed her captor in entirely unpredictable patterns. Although most civilians would have applauded her valor and defiance, a tactician would have deemed the situation a complete nightmare. Tokio's attempts at a self-emancipation not only made it difficult for her rescuers to approach her, but it also increased the likelihood of Takeda maiming her by accident.

And possibly killing everyone else. 

When ones' lives were entirely at the mercy of an imbecile like Takeda, it was unwise to make that task too complicated. 

Still, it was gratifying watching Takeda defend himself from his victims. The moron had his hands full juggling between his grip on the belligerent Tokio and his guard against her seven silly servants. The scene would have been hilarious if the girl in Takeda's arms wasn't Tokio. But as it was, the tip of Takeda's blade had come within an inch of her throat once too often for Saitoh's liking. And as much as Saitoh would enjoy watching Takeda dig a bottomless grave for himself, Saitoh could not allow the volatile situation to deteriorate any further. It would only take one small misstep on either side for the day to end in bloodshed. And with Shinsengumi's popularity at its nadir, the daimyo would not be thrilled by another Shinsengumi blunder. 

It had to stop. 

Now. 

"Takeda." Satioh roared from the doorway.

And the imbecile almost dropped his katana. 

The moron slowly turned, face contorted by shock and fear. "C…captain Saitoh …" Takeda's lips twisted into a sickly smile as he hastily reversed his grip on the katana so the flat side of the blade faced his "enemies". 

As if threatening innocent civilians with the flat side of the katana made the situation any more tolerable. 

Not that Saitoh expected any better. Takeda had never met resistance from his victims before, and the lack of practice clearly showed.

"How … why … when … where … ahh …" The idiot quickly exhausted his limited vocabulary and fell to a tense silence, his eyes darting furtively between his adversaries and his escape routes.

Satioh sneered. Takeda had no hope of extricating himself from the crime scene, especially not with a hostile victim in tow. So Saitoh waited disdainfully for the cornered rat to realize the inevitability of its defeat.

And the day might have ended happily that way, with Saitoh hauling Takeda off to face Hijikata's wrath, if not for the presence of an even bigger idiot.

For no good reason whatsoever, the headless chicken chose that precise moment of victory to launch an ill-considered "rescue".

A rescue that couldn't possibly succeed. 

With no plans, no weapons, and no backup, she charged towards Takeda with her broom raised high and a battle cry on her lips. 

A cry that sounded more like a squawk than a roar.

"Stop." Saitoh ordered her.

But as usual, Tokio's maid failed to obey him. She rushed headlong towards Takeda. 

And everything shot straight to hell.

Takeda might be a moron, but he was a highly skilled and battle-tested moron. In times of confusion, reflexes honed from decades of training simply took over. Takeda whipped his katana around without any hesitation and went straight for the maid's throat. Even with his grip on his katana reversed, and flat side of the blade facing out, the full force behind the sword swing could easily break the girl's neck.

"Stop!" Saitoh demanded again, without expecting Takeda to be able to break off his attack in time, or that the headless chicken would suddenly learn to duck. Short of Takeda suddenly struck dead by lightening, the maid had no prayer of surviving this intact.

"Reiko-chan!" Tokio screamed in terror and anguish as Takeda's katana broke through the maid's broomstick without slowing. 

Then with a thud, the blade connected with the maid's collarbone. The force sent the girl flying through the air. She crash landed in a mess. 

Saitoh gritted his teeth. Still, he clung to the possibility of a tolerable ending to this debacle. After all, it was only one dead maid - a recoverable event. 

Sadly, Tokio failed to grasp such a simple principle. She cried and screamed like it was the end of the world. Then with one last angry howl, she bit down, with all her might, on the arm that Takeda used to restrain her.

She drew blood.

And it became Takeda's turn to scream. He flung Tokio away from him like a poisonous snake, backhanded her across the face, and turned his katana on her. 

This time, with the sharpened edge towards her neck. . 

Saitoh snarled. He would see Takeda dead before he let that rat slaughter an innocent civilian. 

Saitoh drew his katana and surged into his gatotsu stance. But so intent was Takeda on decapitating his victim, he didn't even react to Saitoh's approach. That placed Saitoh in an unpleasant dilemma: he could either butcher a distracted comrade without a proper fight, or merely disarm Takeda as honor would have required.

Honor, the standard all samurais lived and died for - with the exception of scumbags like Takeda.

Saitoh had no intention of lowering himself to that rat's level. 

Suppressing his bloodlust, Saitoh changed his stance at the last moment. 

He sheathed his sword, raised his scabbard, and bashed it against Takeda's skull.

With as much brutality as he could honorably justify. 

Takeda crumpled to the ground like an ungainly dummy, without ever realizing what had hit him. But to be on the "safe" side, Saitoh kicked Takeda's unconscious body a couple of times to ensure that the bastard would not wake up anytime soon. If ever. Perhaps today was Kyoto's lucky day, and the city could soon sing a happy dirge. But for the time being, Saitoh had to satisfy himself with merely saving one woman. 

One very unresponsive woman.

The kitten wasn't even breathing. She stood like a marble statue staring transfixed and ashen faced at the spot that Takeda had occupied but a moment ago. With any luck, she would remember to inhale before she ran out of air. But at least she wasn't clinging to him and sniveling ceaselessly. Saitoh hated clingy women. Their vulture like talons made him want to chop their arms off just to get rid of them. Besides, he had bigger problems to deal with than declawing bottom feeders. Problems like the half dead maid lying on the ground and a courtyard full of servants all gaping at him like glassy-eyed fishes.

"Someone go and fetch a doctor." He bellowed.

The courtyard immediately exploded into an uproar - with most of the servants undoubtedly doing nothing useful. The whole of Japan could not have produced enough doctors to justify that much noise. But it was better to have the servants scurry around like a pack of headless dimwits than to have all of them underfoot.

And talk about headless dimwits …

Saitoh bent over the prone form of Tokio's maid. The girl's collarbone had swollen to several times its normal size, and her breathing came in labored gasps; but her neck and spine region looked otherwise undamaged, and her skull held its proper shape. All in all, she looked capable of living for at least another hour –time enough for the doctors to arrive. Even if that was not the case, Saitoh could do little for her. Most PHYSICIANS did not have the proper medical training to treat spinal and head injuries, anything a samurai did could only aggravate her condition.

The girl's fate was out of his hands. 

It was time to remove all traces of Shinsengumi involvement from the scene of Takeda's latest crime. As much as Saitoh would love to see Takeda publicly punished, he had sworn to protect Shinsengumi's reputation first and foremost, and that meant limiting the amount of exposure this incident created. Besides, it would be so much more satisfying watching Hijikata deal with Takeda. The vice commander could apply punishments that civilians would never dream of. Plus, Saitoh planned to describe Takeda's ordeal in great details to his latest victims, to ease their suffering.

It was overall a great plan - a plan that he forgot as soon as he turned around and saw the fiasco that the kitten was creating. Tokio had picked up her maid's severed broom and was calmly beating Takeda's prone form with its bamboo handle. 

Saitoh's jaw dropped. 

He had never seen any civilian with the audacity to openly hit a samurai with a chopstick, much less pummel one with a broomstick. 

Striking a samurai merited a death warrant. To repeatedly pummel one …

Saitoh didn't even want to think of the consequences. It was bad enough for Tokio's servants to defend themselves with kitchen implements in the heat of the moment, but for Tokio to beat an unconscious samurai with such cold indifference was inexcusable. To top it off, the servants at least had enough common sense to hide their crime - evidenced by the complete disappearance of all kitchen equipment and their wielders. But unlike the others, Tokio didn't seem value strategic retreats. Instead, she had decided to escalate her crime - alone and in full public view. 

In other words, she had no way of hiding her felony and no underlings to shift the blame on. 

How she managed to live this long baffled Saitoh. But if he wanted to deny Takeda all gains from this latest crime, he must secure Tokio's continual and independent existence. He must remedy this situation. Immediately. Should Tokio's actions become public knowledge, the Shinsengumi would have no choice but to execute her; or worse, force her to marry Takeda. Hijikata would never allow the Shinsengumi to suffer the humiliation her action would have caused. So to salvage the situation, Saitoh needed to get rid of all evidence of Tokio's crime as soon as possible. 

Starting with the weapon. 

Saitoh strode up to Tokio and grabbed the broomstick as it descended towards its intended victim again. He gave the stick a sharp tug, expecting to yank it right out of the kitten's grip. But to his surprise, his efforts barely moved it. Instead, he had nearly yanked Tokio off her feet. Her death grip over her weapon never loosened. 

How like Tokio to fight him tooth and nail while he tried to save her life. If Saitoh didn't abhor the idea of Takeda profiting off of corruption, he would gladly leave Tokio to die by her own stubbornness.

"Give me the broom." He commanded her.

She simply ignored him. Her arms continued to move up and down mechanically despite his iron grip preventing the broomstick from moving an inch. But she didn't seem to notice. 

In fact, she didn't react to his presence at all.

Or to any other stimuli.

Saitoh sighed. He had seen this type of behavior before - usually after the Shinsengumi recruits faced the carnage of their first battle. 

Tokio was in shock. 

Some people reacted by fainting, others by screaming hysteria; his kitten chose to whack the life out of an unconscious samurai instead. With her obi half torn, the beginning of a bruise forming on her cheek, and her hair swirling around her in total disarray, she hardly looked like someone capable of meting out fierce retributions. Saitoh smirked. Hell hath no fury like his kitten angered. This ought to teach Takeda to never underestimate her again. 

On the other hand, her vehemence also made it difficult for Saitoh to intervene on her behalf. He learned from past experiences, trying to wrestle the "weapon" away from someone in her condition would be extremely difficult. People in shock clung to protective objects with all their strength. It was simpler to remove the person from the situation instead. So he let go of his grip on the broomstick, ducked under Tokio's guard, wrapped his arms around her waist, and lifted her off the ground.

He belatedly realized that he should have taken his own advice: never underestimate Tokio. He should have knocked her unconscious, or at least restrained her from behind. But he had opted for a quick frontal tackle instead, mistakenly confident about the ease of hoisting and moving her out of the courtyard. 

A distance of fifty feet had never felt so long.

Now freed from her fixation on Takeda, Tokio had turned her ire towards him. She had started fighting him with all her adrenaline-enhanced strength. She squirmed, kicked, and whacked at him with her broomstick. He didn't mind the squirming – having her rub against him actually felt rather pleasant. But he could do without the kicking and the whacking.

"Behave yourself." He shouted into her ear, fighting to sound authoritative despite the loud slaps of her broomstick. 

To his astonishment, she ceased struggling and calmed down immediately. The reaction was so unexpected, it took several moments to register, and several more before he ceased his own attempts to further subdue her.

Usually, such victories would bring a self-satisfied smirk to his face, but he had known her far too long. 

And far too well.

Her sudden obedience raised all the hairs on the back of his neck, and he immediately readied himself to battle an oncoming catastrophe. Now that Tokio had ceased all her struggling, he noticed how eerily quiet the courtyard had become. He had a feeling that Tokio's sudden meekness had naught to do with him. Something had shocked her into immobility. 

That suspicion only worsened as he felt a furious ki blasting a firestorm towards the back of his skull.

"Father," Tokio whispered in a half broken voice.

Saitoh winced. When did Tokio's father get back in town? The man had come home at the worst moment possible. If the spectacle of a half destroyed house didn't launch Takagi into a blind rage, catching a Shinsengumi "exploiting" and "abducting" his daughter certainly would. And Tokio's appearance could only fuel the flames of fury. The kitten looked like she had endured unimaginable tortures. Her left eye was swelling shut from the bruise on her cheek that threatened to take over her entire face, her hair had escaped from its bounds and tumbled around her in an absolute mess, and her half torn obi … it didn't hold her clothing nearly as intact as Saitoh would have liked. In fact, her kimono had unfastened in all the wrong places. 

Saitoh growled. He was no fool. He knew how bad this looked. All the circumstantial evidence had painted him so thoroughly as evil personified, no one would have believed anything he said. Much less his innocence. He was amazed that Tokio's father wasn't already attacking him like raving lunatic.

It would take an extraordinary optimist to even hope that Takagi was in a listening mood. 

Trying to talk his way out of this situation would be an exercise in futility. No matter. Saitoh never enjoyed bantering words anyways; he preferred to simply threaten his way out of situations. 

There were millions of ways to intimidate a merchant into short-term silence. 

The Takagis could sort all this out among themselves later.

Saitoh dropped his grip Tokio, straightened to his full height, and schooled his features into a mask of hostility that never ceased to cause Shinsengumi recruits to quake in their sandals.

With a plan of terrorization well rehearsed in his mind, Saitoh turned around.  
And all his would-be threats died on his lips. 

Standing next to Tokio's father was Vice Commander Hijikata Toshizo. 


End file.
